Week In Review
by LadyDeathwish
Summary: Aeris is back, but is she really? Has Avalanche's favourite martyr come back from the dead to save the world again, or has some imposter infiltrated the group? And what are her motives?
1. An old friend

_Can I _really_ do this?_ The question had been bothering me for the last six weeks. Six weeks of training, practicing, reiterating the same brainless speeches over and over again. I felt like such a faker, such a walking lie, it made me sick and I could swear I was shaking from it. I don't know if they will buy this pathetic act I've got to put up.

After all, it wasn't everyday someone meaningless like me would infiltrate a known band of terrorists.

Feeling absolutely naked and alone, I wrestled the skirt of my dress free from a tangle of thorns and vines, and stepped out onto the main forest path. The group was there waiting for me. I was so unbelievably nervous, how can I possibly pull this introduction off before my knees buckle and I completely blow it? Saying 'Hello!' was nerve-wracking enough. I cleared my throat.

"Uhm... Hi everyone!" I waved, cheerfully as I could, fixing my skirt and hair as I detached myself from the latest snags in the web of foliage.

The leader, a blonde man in his mid twenties, was the first to look up.

"Ae- Aeris?"

_Can I really do this??_

* * *

Sitting at my home alone minding my own business, someone started knocking on my door. I got up, got the door, and two men in blue suits and one in a labcoat with greasy hair invited themselves into my eleventh floor apartment.

"Excuse me, if you're trying to sell me a vaccum cleaner you can do it in the hallway," I protested as they invaded my hole in the wall. I backed up against my closet defensively, waiting to see what they'd do. My right hand twitched anxiously. I wonder if that tipped them off.

The labcoat-clad geezer acted first. By laughing like a lunatic. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, yes! Perfect, absolutely perfect!" Then we went off into mumbled rambling.

"What the heck are you talking about?" I glared by best glare. It's never as effective as I want it to be. "You know what? Nevermind. Just get out of my home."

His friends eyed him cautiously as the mumbling and cackling got a little more audible. "Ancient... Experiment... Complete success!" he shouted suddenly.

"Hello~ooh, crazy guy! Mind shutting up and removing yourself from the premises?"

He cleared his throat. "Well Seria, it appears to me-"

"I don't remember asking for an explanation. I remember demanding that you leave. Now." If only I could shoot daggers from my eyes at will. I guess I had something better, though.

"Wait! It gets interesting! Does the word 'destiny' mean anything to you?"

"You are completely off your rocker, old man. Fine, if it makes you feel better, yak at me for a bit. See where that gets you."

"Do you know who your parents were?" I narrowed my eyes. "I take it you don't. Unfortunately as things stand today, they are both dead. Their names were Aeris Gainsborough, and Seph-"

"Wait wait wait. You're not building up to tell me I was grown in one of your filthy petri dishes, are you?" He nods, stifling another mad cackle. "And you decided to combine _her_ DNA with _**his**_?"

He started laughing again. I swiftly slid open my closet, grabbed my katana and beheaded him. His Turk friends barely had time to flinch. I turned away unperturbed towards the bathroom. I guess my little twitch earlier didn't register for them.

The red-head was the first to react. He drew his Mag-rod and proceeded to swing at me with it. I lazily blocked it with the hilt of my sword as I continued to the bathroom.

"Reno is it?" I said, not even turning to face him. "Give me a minute. I've got blood on my sword and I want to wash it before it crusts on." I turned on the sprayer in my shower to rinse it off, then dried it off carefully with a towel.

"... What-"

"Whoever he was, he was a pain in the ass, and I think I just did the Planet and everyone that ever knew him a favour. That's why." I finished up and turned to face my two Turk friends. "Now, you have a job for me, no?"

"What do you mean by that? How did you know my name?" Reno got defensive, a sudden dark look in his eyes overshadowing his features. I guess he didn't like that I knew more about him than he potentially knew about me. Of course, as things stood, he was probably briefed on 'experiment #626' or some lab report crap like that.

"You wouldn't be here if you didn't have something you wanted from me. You looked like you wanted to skewer your scientist friend yourself, and Turks always have some ulterior motive. My guess is," I continued. "You want me to work for you, because apparently my unwitting and unknowing parentage were both privy to certain special skills. Reading minds is one of them, Rude."

Rude took a step forward threateningly, but Reno held a hand out towards him to stop him. "Well then, Seria, what do we do about the former Dr. Hojo here?"

"You guys help me get rid of the body and make up a story, and then we'll talk business."


	2. A wealth of lies

"I-it's... It's so amazing to see you guys again!" I choked out inbetween strangled sobs. _My feelings are a joke._

Cloud's eyes danced in the twilight of the sleeping forest as he visually went over me, head to toe. He's silently affirming to himself that I am the real thing. I'm Aeris back from the dead. _My whole life, a lie._

I took a chance and ran up to hug him tightly, and he responded in kind. Desperately even. He feels guilty about when I died, almost three years ago. In this position I didn't have to face anyone - I could just cry. _My parents aren't even my parents. My parents were leftover cells in a freezer._

No one felt up to talking. They were overwhelmed, such a mix of feelings of grief and regret and joy and surprise and sadness. Some were stronger than others. I planned out my story as I soaked the knit vest of the leader of Avalanche. _Nothing that is mine is mine anymore._

"Wait a damn minute." Cid snapped. "Now, I know everyone here thinks I'm some old fogey, but don't she look a lil' different to you?" _My friends don't matter._

Cloud pulled me away from himself to examine my face. I shyly tried to hide my panic by brushing at manufactured tears. "It's true, I-I'm a little different. Please, let me explain." _My life's achievements, never really my own._

Tifa came over and studied me herself. "Hey, you're about as tall as me now," she said offhandedly, with a small smile. _I was number one in my kendo class. Now I know why._

I sniffled as I pulled myself together, tempted to burst into another fit of tears to avoid the prying. "Okay, it's something like this. Uhm.. When you die, and go to the Lifestream, it's like you're a small part of a greater whole. But over time, that small part gets spread out, it mixes with the whole a little bit. Since I'm an Ancient... No, a Cetra... I can kind of keep myself together a little bit better than most people. So.... When I was needed, it was just a matter of pulling myself together. But it's still not perfect." _I feel ridiculous. I would laugh if it didn't blow my tenuous cover._

"I don't think I understand," Cloud said.

"I'm as much myself as I could manage, but at the same time, there's little differences. It's like waking up, and looking at yourself in the mirror... And finding out you suddenly have blue eyes instead of green, or that you're a little taller. To me I notice other things, too. My fingers are longer I think, and my hair doesn't feel quite right to me." I thoughtfully studied my hands as I said this. "I didn't used to have a freckle here before, on the back of my right hand." _It's like my hands aren't even my own anymore._

"What do you remember?" Tifa asked gently.

Quiz time. Thankfully, I studied that report intensely. "I had the White Materia... I made it here, to stop Sephiroth." I took a short walk down the path towards the Forgotten City, feigning nostalgia. "I went to the main building, at night, and I went down the steps to-" I stopped and held my lower ribs, where Sephiroth's sword was reported to have exited. "Ugh."

"Aeris! Are you okay?" Cloud panicked and was at my side in a moment, like I was a cripple about to fall on my side and start twitching erraticly. He offered himself up for support, and I accepted by putting my hand on his shoulder and leaning slightly. _I'm rapidly losing my sanity._

"I'm fine. I just remembered how I died. I lost the White Materia and my ribbon. I was in your arms," I looked to Cloud distantly. "And I felt like I was falling asleep." _I'm starting to believe this crap myself._

He went from worried to a little angry. Having brushed against his mangled thoughts and feelings, even I knew it was an odd change for him. "Aeris," he said. "Why did you leave by yourself? Why didn't you tell anyone where you were going?" His tone was demanding.

"Because... I didn't want anyone else to get hurt." _Self-righteous crap._

Understanding dawned on every face I could see in the twilight. They had felt bad that they let 'me' die, but they never thought that she had wanted it that way. It was only one of the intepretations I came up with upon reading the report.

Standing off to the side from the main group was the Vincent Valentine. He looked a lot different from his old turk file - Paler, longer unkempt black hair, and definetly not dressed in the same blue suit that Reno and Rude wore as the standard Turk uniform. And through this whole scenario, through this whole act I put up, his eyes were glaring fire at me. Distrust. Suspicion. That was okay though.

_He's pretty cute, so he can be forgiven._


	3. Flying high

The rest of the group seemed to accept me as one of their own, after more lengthy stories and excuses for why their 'Aeris' is suddenly alive again. I was exhuberant when Tifa started yaking about her new bar, name same as the old one that got crushed under a city-sized metal plate. Barret's little girl Marlene was all grown up now, and the big brute was eager to show me the photos in his wallet. Yuffie wanted to show me all the Materia she'd collected, as Cloud cast her a suspicious glance or three. I jokingly asked the thing called Cait Sith (controlled by former Midgar architect Reeve Tuesti from an undisclosed location) for my fortune, and he said that the colour 'green' makes me spend money. I'll have to remember that.

The only person not jumping all over me to reminisce about the good ol' days was Vincent. I did have to get him alone at some point. That was going to be hard with everybody jumping me like I was their new best friend.

We all boarded Cid's ship, the Shera apparently, and made our way back the the heroes' home town of Edge. I stayed on the main deck and looked out the window as Cid related his regrets that I never got to see the Highwind the last time I was 'alive'. I told him his ship was amazing, and that was the only truth in this whole endeavour - I found a new love in flying. I watched with rapt attention as the clouds raced by.

I saw Midgar for the first time. It was completely destroyed. Sector plates looked like they had been ripped from the central support structure and flung about like a child's toys after a tantrum. I sank against the clear globe window on the main deck. I imagine the real Aeris would've been devastated to see that, too. It even got through to _me_.

Cloud was at my side in a moment. He was especially protective of me, and it was starting to get on my nerves. I did not appreciate being treated like I was made of glass. "Aeris? Are you okay?" He asked, mild panic in his tone. I saw visions of Holy and Meteor dancing in his head.

"I'm fine, I guess. It's different to see it this way." I stiffened. "M-mom wasn't in..."

"No, she took Marlene and went to Kalm when it happened. They're okay," he reassured.

"Okay." I fought some more fake tears. "Excuse me. I think I need to lay down for a bit."

Cid looked up from the wheel. "We're almost there."

"I just need a minute to myself." I said.

I hid my eyes as I made my way to the door out of the main deck. I glanced over at Vincent, trying to communicate that I wanted to talk to him. My telepathy, while freakish, was better at recieving than sending. Whatever the case, I think he got the message if only from the look I gave him and from the mystical powers I apparently have.

I got out of the main deck and allowed myself to breathe. Then I realized I had absolutely no idea where the beds were on this ship. I almost cursed under my breath, before catching myself and saying that wasn't very 'Aeris'-like to do. One thing the Turks didn't have for me was a floorplan of Cid's latest toy. I decided to try to the left and opened every door I could find.

I heard Vincent's heavy metallic shoes on the steel grating that made up the floor. He had followed me off the main deck. I was poking my head into a small room with some computers and monitors lining the walls.

"Continue down this hall on the right," Vincent said from behind me.

"Oh, okay. Thank you," I said, a little flustered. I turned away from him, intending to follow the directions he gave.

"I'm not buying it."

I turned back to him, cocked my head to one side and said "Huh?" as sweetly and airheadedly as possible. I felt like an idiot, but I was a well-practiced idiot.

He didn't answer, he just glared. Suddenly I felt like I was locked in a room with a hungry lion. And I smelled distinctly of fear and meat. I let him cast his withering stare at me for a few moments, before I looked away defeatedly and pulled at one of my curls. Not quite an Aeris habit, but I figured it appropriate for the situation, and it made room for him to follow up his statement.

"You're not her."

That was bold, and it hurt my pride a bit. I thought I was doing pretty well with my maddening little act. This was dangerous, he could blow my cover away in an instant. I had to tame his anger and maintain his interest at the same time.

I put my hands to my hips and leaned in with a slightly peeved look on my face. "Well that's kinda rude. You didn't know me that well last time, either." Then I clapped my hands together, with a suddenly cheerful expression. "I have a great idea! Why don't you and I go out some time? To get to know each other?"

His glare intensified. He thought my little date idea was a trap. "Seventh Heaven?" he suggested. He was for the idea amazingly, but on familiar ground with familiar faces nearby just in case I decided, to, say, decapitate him. It wasn't _that_ bad of a habit, give me a little credit here.

I shook my head, curls bouncing everywhere. They were starting to tick me off. "We're all going there tonight anyways, and it'll be hard to talk to you when everyone's there."

"What are you suggesting?" His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I'll find a place where we can talk, and I'll let you know, okay? There's... Something I want to ask you."

I didn't let him say anything else before I turned on my heel and continued down the hall. I was just going to let him think on the second-most honest thing I had said all day.


	4. Unrequitted love

"TIFA-TIFA-TIFA-TIFA-TIFA!!" I gaped at the cozy little bar she had gotten herself like a caffeinated neanderthal. "Can I work here!? I can make the best cookies you've _ever_ tasted!"

I traced my fingers along the sleek black ceramic bar counter of Seventh Heaven. There was only one person in the establishment besides myself and Tifa, the rest had cited that they had errands or responsibilities to do before tonight. The metal chairs were neatly tucked away under the small square tables and it wasn't well-lit up, making the whole place dark even though it was early afternoon. Along one wall were picture frames, mostly of scenery, all in greyscale or sepia tones. It was really clean, though a few fleeting notes in Tifa's mind hinted that it never saw a whole lot of business. The main breadwinner was Cloud's delivery service.

On the outside, she was really flattered at my over-exaggerated excitement. "Sure, I guess. We've got a lot to celebrate, and I think I may need all the help I can get," Tifa smiled gently.

On the airship, I had managed to doze off into a deep sleep, so they landed outside the city limits and not bothered to wake me. I managed to sleep for most of the night, waking up once to practice with the metal staff I'd bought for this trip against some local fauna. This was my first view of the Avalanche base. Honestly? It was unimpressive, low-budget, and not what I'd expected at all.

"I _love_ baking! Can I start right away?" I gawked at the many cooking implements and ingredients lining the wall. Most seemed to be for show, like the cloves of garlic attached to a peg and the many large dark jars labeled with different spices. Besides the many bottles of liquor, of course.

"There's a proper kitchen in the back with a stove and pots and pans. Actually, I was going to make you a cake to surprise you, but I guess I can't if you're going to be in there." She was being unnecessarily accomodating because I'd just returned from the dead.

"I would love anything you made for me," I said sweetly. It'd better be chocolate. "Maybe we could bake together and catch up? There's still so much I want to know!"

She smiled broadly. "Sure! I'll get Denzel to watch the bar and call for me if any customers need anything."

"Denzel?" _Who the heck is Denzel?_

"Denzel!" Tifa called. A young boy with shaggy brown hair came down the wooden staircase and into the main bar area. "Hey you," she said. "I want you to meet a good friend of mine. Denzel, this is Aeris."

I crouched down so I could talk to him at eye level. "Hi Denzel!" I held out a hand for him to shake, smiling cheerfully.

He looked somewhat absently at my outstretched hand, his face expressionless. After a moment he backed away into Tifa, with hints of fear in his bright blue eyes. She put a protective arm around him and he held her hand. I then noticed the wolf ring on her lef hand. Denzel had one exactly the same on a chain around his neck. I frowned, and looked up imploringly to Tifa.

"Hey sweetie," she tussled the boy's hair, who had not looked away from me at all. "I need you to watch the bar for a while, okay? Call me if you need me."

"Okay," Denzel said automatically, charging off to stand behind the bar counter watching the door. He glanced nervously back at me a couple times.

I straightened and Tifa took me by the arm to the kitchen in the back. It was just as dark as the bar itself, and somewhat cramped. It was like they'd taken a regular household kitchen and tried to have two of everything - fridge, stove, and many cooking implements - without increasing the space it had, so it had a stove and a fridge at either end with counters and cupboards lining almost every wall, and an island in the middle for more space to prepare client's meals. A huge window with a thin white lacy curtain took up the far wall with a large sink in the middle of the counter infront of it. It wasn't bad, I suppose it served it's purpose for the small clientele Tifa had.

I asked for a brief tour around the kitchen to find everything I needed for cookies. Tifa started making a cake, which looked like it _wasn't_ going to end up being a chocolate cake, and we started talking once we were each stirring our respective bowls.

"If you don't mind my asking, what's the story with Denzel?" I asked as politely as I could. _Why_ the Turks left me completely in the dark about Tifa and Cloud having a _son_ was something I would have to beat out of Reno later. He was really old, too. I'd guess somewhere between ten and twelve.

"Denzel is a sweet little boy, once you get to know him. He was in trouble a long time ago, so Cloud and I took him in," Tifa filled me in.

"He's really quiet around me. Did I make a bad impression?"

"No, I don't think so," she assured me. "He's always been a bit distant. The only person he really trusts is Marlene, but once he sees that she trusts you, he'll come around I'm sure. Those two are very close."

Tifa then went on to tell me everything about her bar; the good times, the bad times, the logistics behind affording the bills and interesting stories about some of her more eccentric customers. We spent a good hour talking and catching up.

"So," I said, looking at my cookies rising slowly in the oven. "I'm really curious. How are things with you and Cloud?"

I felt Tifa's thoughts jumble at the question. She delayed in answering too, with signals of emotional panic. "They're okay. Why do you ask?"

I turned and stood. "_Just_ okay?" I did the hands-clasped-behind-my-back-leaning-forward-teasingly thing with a sly smile on my face. "I saw the ring on your hand earlier and my curiosity has been _dying_ to know. Are you guys... You know, together?"

Tifa's face turned pink and she looked apprehensively at the bowl of icing she was mixing. "Uhm... Not really."

I frowned. "What's wrong? I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's okay. It's been... Difficult." She looked right at me, and I felt a pang of jealousy in her mind. _Wonderful, I'm caught in some twisted love-triangle. The Turks better pay me extra for this crap._ She looked back to the icing. "I've been trying to hold us together. Denzel, Cloud and me, I want us to be a family. But no one but me seems to want it to work. Cloud's never around, and Denzel only ever talks to Marlene, who is away on weekends with her father."

"That sounds... Rough."

"It is really hard to work with, most days."

"Have you ever actually _told_ Cloud that you like him?"

Her eyes met mine in shock. Was that a little too bold to ask? It was glaringly obvious. She's been smitten with the guy ever since they were kids, I could see everything in her head as her emotions raced through her memories.

"I love him," she mumbled under her breath. "I-I've never told him, no."


	5. Almost forgot

"Oooooh, I burned the last batch of cookies," I mourned. I scraped the last dozen chocolate chip cookies into the trash.

"It's okay, you've made a lot. We'll use them at the party tonight." Tifa was cutting strawberries to top the now completed cake with. It was a strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberries, cream cheese icing and covered in shaved white chocolate. _Not bad._

"Do we have time to make anything else?" I asked.

"Maybe.... We could start on some appetizers for everyone, since we have desert out of the way. We have a lot to celebrate after all." Tifa smiled at my continued desire to cook. Her expression seemed to darken at the last part of what she'd said, though. She was _hiding_ something.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Hmm?" she said muddled.

"It's just, you keep saying we have 'a lot to celebrate'..."

"Well, of course! You're back with us again, Aeris."

".... Is there something else going on tonight?"

Tifa looked to the doorway that led back into the main area of the bar. Her thoughts were on Denzel. She leaned in and spoke in a whisper. "It's Denzel's birthday today, too. He's turning eleven."

"What!?" I said in my own shocked whisper.

"We didn't want to overshadow it, but things get pushed aside a little bit when someone you know is back from the... Well, you know."

"You can't shove his birthday party aside for _me!_ I'll feel horrible. Where's your phone? I need to call Barret."

She looked back and forth between me and the door. "But... This is really important to us! We don't want-"

I promptly fixed my hands to my ears. "La la la la la, not hearing it. Where's your phone, and what's his number again?"

Tifa gaped, then smiled gently. She wrote it down on a scrap piece of paper and slid it my way, pointing to the stairs. I climbed them quickly and Tifa went into the bar area to watch Denzel for a little bit.

After three tries I managed to get Barret on the phone. He answered it abruptly, clearly annoyed about something. "What are you doin', fool? You're suppose 'ta be manning your station on the _other_ side of this rig. I didn't say you had a break, I _never_ give breaks! What kind of _damn_-_fool_-"

"Barret!" I squealed gleefully into the phone, cutting him off from what I could only guess was him distractedly whipping peons.

"Aeris? That you, girl?"

"Mm-hmm," I confirmed.

"Hot damn! Sorry, little busy over here. What can I do for you?"

"I need to ask you a favour," I said, glancing back at the stairs. Tifa was still guarding the doorway. "I need you to make sure _nobody_ forgets Denzel's birthday is tonight. I just found out, and I don't want to steal his thunder. Call around and make sure he gets lots of presents from everybody, okay?"

"For you girl, anything. I'll get Yuffie to spread the word, she's the only person Vince will pick up for 'sides Spikey and Reeve, and Spike doesn't call _nobody_ first." He continued in a low mumble, "Damn freaky vampire..."

"Yay! Thanks Barret, I really want this to be special for him too."

"No doubt. I was kinda worried m'self there fo a while. Poor kid is so messed up, and how often do ya turn eleven, anyway? I'll call Yuffie right away."

"Thanks again! Take care Barret!"

"You too," he said a little gravely. Then he hung up.

I hung up and returned downstairs to the bar area, glancing at Denzel manning the counter, and gave Tifa a quick nod, turning to go into the kitchen again. Just then, I heard the door to the bar open, and I could almost feel Tifa's heart sink to the floor with her sharp intake of breath. I turned, and I saw Cloud walk in with a bunch of wild flowers. And he wasn't looking at Tifa. He was looking at me.


	6. Fear

"This is solidago, or goldenrod," I said, pointing to the tall stem of tiny yellow flowers branching away in a pine tree sort of shape. "And these are caspiria," pointing out the tiny blue flowers on a shorter stem that grew in arcs from the top. "This purple one is liatrice," pointing out the tall purple flower with buds going up and down the top. "And these are chrysanthemums."

"I thought they were daisies?" Cloud asked.

"No, you can tell they're mums because they have so many petals. Daisies don't have very many, and they usually come in just white with a large yellow middle," I explained. That flower book I bought for this mission just paid off.

"Ever the flower girl," Cloud commented. "These are for you."

"They're really nice, but..." I looked back to Tifa, she was bent over washing dishes behind the bar. Very quickly, her thoughts caught up in trying to distract herself from her envy. Denzel was entertaining himself with a novel at one of the tables. The only paying customer had left already. "Uhm, coming back from the dead and all doesn't really leave me with a lot of stuff. Not even a vase."

"Oh," Cloud said. "I didn't think of that."

"I bet Tifa might have something for them though." I don't think he caught the obvious hint.

Tifa looked up, her face flushing a slight bit. "Yes! I mean, I could fill a glass for them."

"Would you? They could be a centerpiece for the table," he said, looking back to me. Yeah, he didn't get the hint. Tifa filled a glass and almost slammed it on the counter. It was enough to make Denzel look up, but Cloud was perfectly oblivious to his woman throwing a fit. "Thanks, Tifa." He strode across the room and put them in the glass.

"What time is it now?" I asked, before any more awkward conversation could ensue. "We need to start setting up for the party!"

I managed to usher Cloud and Tifa to push the tables together and decorate, and I went back in the kitchen to prepare more food and dishes to set the table with. I needed to give the two lovebirds some time after Cloud's latest romantic blunder, and I needed to be alone with my thoughts for a bit anyways. I threw together a salad and started washing some dishes from the day's cooking.

Denzel was on my mind. His reaction bothered me deeply. Why would the kid be so afraid of me? He wasn't in any of the old files on Aeris or Sephiroth or even in the Avalanche's-bid-to-save-the-world files. Was it just the fact that I'm some person back from the dead? There must be something else to it.

I let the water in the sink sit still for a moment to look at my reflection and sighed. I even _look_ like my 'real' dad. Maybe it should've tipped me off at some time in my life when neither of my parents have aquamarine eyes. Recessive gene my butt.

_I should give Dad a call soon._

I heard the front door swing open in the next room, and a very chatty young ninja came in. The party guests were arriving already. Time to go smile my face off and pretend I'm someone I'm not.

* * *

Aurhor's note: Kind of a short one, sorry about that. Next chapter some fireworks will happen, and then it'll pick up a bit from there. Please review!


	7. Something in common

"Thank you Barret!!" I squealed with delight. He got me a cellphone. A _pink_ cellphone.

"It's got all of our numbers already on it, so you can keep in touch, fo whatever you decide to do wi' youself," he smiled. It was a thoughtful gift. Even though it was _pink_.

They had all brought me very thoughtful gifts that would've really meant a lot to the real Aeris. Yuffie had managed to dive and recover 'my' staff from the water below the Forgotten City, and Cid fixed it up in his workshop. The red cat/dog thing had brought 'me' some of the old books his tribe had on the musings of the Planet and the Ancients. After a tearful reunion with 'my' adoptive mother, she gave me a vase and some of 'my' old things from my room in Midgar that she had brought with her to Kalm. With Marlene I was met with a hug and a new red ribbon for my hair. She was sorry she couldn't find a pink one, and I told her that was quite alright, that I liked hers better because it was from a friend. Reeve showed up in the flesh, and I had to act like I'd never met him, but once he brought out a Cait Sith doll (Which spent most of the night skittering across the table bringing snacks to his waiting hand) it was obvious who he was to 'me'.

Aeris' adoptive mother Elmyra worried me a bit. She pointed out that my eyes are a different colour, and that I was a lot taller than she remembered, but I managed to dismiss it with the changes-in-the-Lifestream story I'd already fed everyone. It still worried me though, how close she could come to blowing the lid off my whole story. This was the woman that raised the person I was pretending to be. She was flustered however, which I was thankful for. One teary hug after another, and for the first time I felt horrible about my whole charade. It's going to break her heart when everyone finds out that I'm not really Aeris.

"Tifa!" I called out to her from across the room. "We really _do_ have a lot to celebrate, don't we?"

That was her cue. Tifa grinned and vanished into the kitchen for the briefest moment. When she came out, she was holding the strawberry shortcake with lit candles on top. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to Denzel. They suddenly broke out in applause and congratulated him on turning eleven. Barret and Cloud stepped outside to bring in gifts waiting in Barret's truck. Denzel smiled. It was refreshing to see him smile.

I made my way to the table and helped Tifa by handing out slices of cake, plucking a strawberry off the top and popping it into my mouth before anyone could object, grinning mischeviously. Cloud and Barret came in with impossibly-sized presents for Denzel to open and set them down near him. Enjoying not being the center of attention for the moment, I grabbed a slice of cake for myself and a second one for Reeve, who was sitting to the side.

"You look like you could use some cake," I said, offering him the plate and taking a seat next to him.

Reeve had a gentle laugh. "Thank you Aeris," he smiled. "I'd be a little more active tonight, were it not for my leg acting up." Cait Sith scurried over to stand behind him on the table, and the doll took off it's crown to take a bow. Reeve chuckled at his puppet's display.

"What's wrong with your leg?" I asked concerned. I had next to no info on him, let alone anything about some major injury.

"I just have bad knees, and I suppose I have been working too hard. When it gets like this I can't walk without a limp," he explained. He really _had_ been working too hard, I saw some interesting images flashing through his head. Several sets of red eyes...

"You should take it easier at work, then. Don't strain yourself too much," I said uselessly. As if it weren't obvious, or anything.

"Thank you. I would, if I could. There's so many things that demand my attention these days," he sighed.

"What sort of work do you do? I haven't heard much about it."

"Well, I'm the leader of the World Regenesis Organization, though I prefer to think of it as a team effort. Vincent and Yuffie have been helping me out, aswell as some of our old friends from before Meteorfall. We're doing everything we can to help the planet recover."

"What sorts of things have you done?"

"The first step was taking down all of the Mako reactors. The only one left now is under Junon, and we're working to help the city and it's people make the switch from Mako to power sources that don't harm the planet. The second is to monitor the planet as best we can to make sure it's recovering, and finally, we work to stop any new threats that might come around."

"New threats?" I asked, intrigued.

"We had some trouble a few months ago," his expression darkened. "It was a close call."

His mind was a jumbled mess of emotion while he thought about that. A lot was at stake, they lost some people. They almost lost Vincent, apparently. I wanted to ask more about it, but I didn't want to bring up more bad memories.

Instead, I was distracted by what was going on on the other side of the room again.

"Why don't you like Aeris? She helped save the _world_, you know. She's a member of our team!" Yuffie demanded.

Denzel focused on me, and I felt fear in his mind. "Her eyes remind me of those three guys from last year."

The room fell quiet, and suddenly I was the center of attention again. Not exactly the positive kind of attention I was growing accustomed to, either. I felt like I was under a microscope, like I had just made enemies with everyone in a ten mile radius.

"What happened last year?" I asked, confused and worried. My response was Cloud hastily marching up to me and holding my face aggressively.

"She has the same eyes," he announced. He was angry. _What the heck is going on!?_

"This's crazy! She's our Aeris, ain't she?" Barret exclaimed desperately. Cloud took some cautious steps back and reached for his sword. Yuffie looked shocked, debating reaching for her shuriken. My heart was racing. This can't be happening.

"What is _wrong _with you guys?" Tifa suddenly appeared infront of me, taking a stance, ready for a fight. I _really_ didn't like where this was going. I clamoured for my new staff from the table behind me, and clumsily held it infront of me to defend myself, if I had to.

"Tifa," Cloud said sternly. "Get out of the way."

"Not a chance! I can't believe how paranoid you are! Think about it for a minute, about what she's already been through, and you're going to stand there and say she has something in common with the man that _killed_ her?" Tifa yelled.

What? "_What!?_" I screamed, getting angry on the inside, and started to cry.

Yuffie was watching my face, and something in my reaction made her jump to stand with me next to Tifa, shuriken in hand. "Leave her alone!" she said defiantly.

The support I'd somehow gathered made Cloud stop in his tracks. He didn't want to fight Yuffie or Tifa, and his expression was apoligetic. He looked to me, remorse in his bright blue eyes. "Aeris, I'm sorry-"

"Save it," Tifa snapped. "You've said enough already." She took me by the shoulder and she, Yuffie, and I left the bar for the night.


	8. Establishing an ally

I picked up the food-stained menu and pointed to an item on it to the bartender. "I'll just have one of these," I ordered casually. He gave me a strange look, thinking that that was an odd choice, but went about his business fetching it for me anyway.

After the cover-blowing near-miss at Seventh Heaven today, myself and my new best friends, Tifa & Yuffie, went riding some chocobos well away from civilization for a while. It was an enjoyable experience, and nice to immediately get away from that party with how sour it turned out to be. We weren't out for very long, but we agreed to do it again some time. I think I'd like that.

Vincent's not-so-subtle footsteps entered the no-name bar I had picked out. I studied some maps of this new town, Edge, and managed to find one dirty and obscure enough to do the job. This was the sort of place the sketchy types would go to get wasted, pick up, or start a fight. For that last one the proprietor had wisely stationed two bouncers at each exit and who knew how many more stayed in the back until called upon.

It was also the last place anybody would find Vincent. Definetly the last place they would find 'Aeris', either. I'd sent him a text message on my new _pink_ cellphone with the address and time. I'm glad he decided to show, he didn't send a response.

"Yo, Vinnie," I greeted casually, leaning on the counter lazily. I'd discarded the dress and crazy hairstyle for my more natural attire. I'd grabbed a black tank top and some comfortable black jeans. It was a tremendous relief to wear my own black boots, too - the brown ones had been starting to bug my feet. They needed insoles in a bad way.

He grunted, confirming his suspicion that I'm not Aeris. Well, duh. Just before I'd walked out the door today I'd briefly toyed with the notion of bringing my trenchcoat - to look more like Dear Old Dad. All I'd need was grey hair and steel pauldrons.

I motionned for him to take a seat next to me at the bar, and he did, slowly, as if I was about to jump him in a clearly public place. But he did. That was the important part.

I leaned forward on the bar, staring straight ahead. "You're wondering why I brought you here and not anyone else, right?" I began.

"Yes."

"That's pretty simple. I read the personality profiles on every one of you before taking on this job, and you seemed to be the least likely to bring someone with you." Flickers of panic raced through his mind. I sighed. "No, I'm not an assassin. I'm not looking to kill anyone, and Tifa and Yuffie came back alive after several hours out of town with me, did they not?"

His eyes looked curious. He nodded. "They did."

"You also seem to be the only person who would understand what I'm about to tell you, and not pass on any information I give you to the others. That means that you're the only person I can really trust."

"Trust with what?"

"A few things. First, and the most obvious; I'm not really Aeris come back from the dead."

"Then you are...?"

"Now you're going to get angry with me. Your old friend, Dr. Hojo- See? I told you you'd get angry. Anyways, he got bored one day shortly after Ifalna and Aeris escaped the Shinra building, and he happened to have some of Aeris' cells and Sephiroth's cells in the deep-freeze."

"What do you mean?"

"This is the part that gets me angry. Apparently he decided to put two and two together and made me. Technically, Aeris and Seph are my mom and dad."

The bartender, by-the-Ancients-why-did-it-take-so-long, came and abruptly set down a glass of a brown opaque liquid infront of me in a slightly less than sanitary glass. I took an experimental sip and then a full swig. I quickly finished the glass and stared into the bottom of it forlornly.

"That must be confusing," he said suddenly. He'd been thinking a few things - mostly focusing on the desire to strangle Hojo, but the speculative line of thought about my parentage had been quieter than that.

"You have no idea. It's like someone walks into your life one day after you've won like a worldwide spelling bee and you're in all the papers and junk, and takes credit for everything you've ever done in your life. Everything that you thought made you yourself is suddenly because of some messed up day in a genetics lab."

"What are you doing pretending to be Aeris, then?" He began again, almost angrily.

"Yes, it's a betrayal. Yes, it's unfair to everyone. I know that. But there's a few elements to it, and it's not really that bad. Here, let me start from the beginning."

The bartender spared me a glance, and I swiftly raised my empty glass for him to see. He took his cue and scurried off to pour me another.

"The Turks, I'm sure you're familiar with, showed up one day with this big plan. Yes, I know you're angry, but there's more. Pay attention. They wanted someone on the inside of Avalanche so that they could have some advance notice of more of Cloud's shenanigans in his bid to save the world. But you guys wouldn't ever trust some stranger asking to join, am I right or what?"

Vincent paused, then nodded after thinking it over.

"So therefore, it had to be someone you trusted. Someone you already knew. As twisted as it is, Aeris was already out of the picture, and I was an experiment that ended up looking almost like her. Except for a few differences I've already mentioned, of course. My eyes seem to put everyone off."

"And the... Lifestream explanation?"

"As far as I understand it, it's entirely plausible. I mean, once you're energy you're energy, you mix with all the other energy and you're definetly not born the same. Ancients have a few abilities that make them different, though. For instance, in case you hadn't already noticed, I can read minds."

"You... What?"

"That's right. You're thinking of asking me to guess a number. Now you're a little stunned that I said that you're thinking of asking me to guess a number. A number just came up. It's thirty-eight thousand, five-hundred and seventy-four."

Vincent was silent for a little bit. As if on cue, the bartender brought me my second drink. I gulped it down the same as the first.

"It's because," I began again, in answer of his unspoken question. "Ancients, or at least full-blooded ancients like Aeris' mother Ifalna, have an empathic link with other ancients and even the planet itself. Aeris however, being half-human, wasn't as strong at it and was also very alone in the world in that respect, so it was mostly dormant until she made it to the Temple of the Ancients. I however, having a little Jenova in me makes it much stronger, more apparent. Apparently Jenova makes everything stronger, that's why Seph was such a pain to kill. Am I right or what?"

Vincent nodded, bemused thoughts flickering through his mind almost too quickly to notice.

"Sorry if this conversation is a little one-sided," I digressed. "I haven't even gotten to the point where I ask you what I want to ask."

"And that is?"

"I need your help, Vincent," I admitted. Ordinarily, I wouldn't be caught _dead_ asking for help. It just wasn't me. But these were special circumstances.

"My help?"

"Yes." The barkeep brought me a third glass, and I picked it up, savouring it. "I've told you all of this, because I intend no harm to Avalanche, but at the same time I know I need to be more convincing."

"Convincing?"

"Aeris was an accomplished healer even _without_ Materia. The file was very ambiguous as to how she did it, but I think it involved her latent connection with the Lifestream. As much as I've tried, I... Can't do it. I can't even _fake_ it. The best I can do is set stuff on fire if I want it bad enough. Yes, it's very counter-productive. So, I need an out for that. Either I hide a Cure materia in my jacket or in the sole of one of my boots, or I need someone to help me evade the situation if it comes up."

"That's an interesting problem."

"Tell me about it. Second, I didn't get very much staff training in before being dumped in the forest and wading my way through foliage to your group. Ordinarily my weapon of choice is a katana, but I suppose I'll have to abandon that. Since I can't take off to the Turks everytime your backs are turned, I'm going to need a sparring partner whenever we can get some downtime."

"I don't do melee."

"I know, but you're the only one I can reasonably trust."

"You've really thought this through," he remarked.

I groaned, turning away from his gaze to the bar counter beside me, peering down at the last drops of the savoury liquid left in my glass. "I get my methodical nature from Dear Old Dad, I suppose." The barkeep hovered over me expectantly, so without readjusting my gaze I pulled a twenty gil note from my boot and slid it across the counter. He took it and scurried off without a word.

"Anyways, will you help me?"

Vincent considered it for a minute or two. He really didn't enjoy the thought of helping an interloper in their cozy little resistance group. It _was_ very unfair to them all to make them think one of their own came back from the dead, and for how long? Until I finish my mission and vanish without a trace, or until my cover is blown and Cloud dices me into meaty chunks with his oversized sword? He speculated on my motives for a good amount of it, though it wasn't entirely negative. Finally, he came to a reasonable decision.

"Alright. I'll do what I can, if only to make sure you're not a threat."

"Done and done!" I set the glass down with a triumphant thump. "Oh, by the Ancients! I haven't even told you my _name_ yet." I lazily extended a hand to Vinnie. "Seria Rōthe. Pleased to meet ya."


	9. First debriefing

"_No_. Try it _again_."

With the drama between myself and Cloud still hanging in the air, I managed to soon score a break away from my 'friends' and get in some decent sparring with Tseng. He was an outstanding hardass with my staff training, and my desire to knock his teeth out during these matches was greater than my desire to gut my _father_ for trying to destroy the planet. Not to mention the years of neglect he put me through.

"Mind telling me again what I'm supposedly doing wrong? Or do you want this match to get a little less than friendly?" I asked in a warning tone.

"You keep trying to bash things with it like a sword. Aeris was a defensive fighter and would use it to block incoming blows, without countering very much," he said. He didn't like threats, but I wasn't about to become the subservient student to his inane ideas about technique.

"Maybe _Aeris_ suddenly picked up sword lessons from the Lifestream, and thinks you need a haircut in a _bad_ way."

Against the wall of the training room, Reno let out a laugh that was quickly cut off by a glare from my teacher. While Tseng's eyes were elsewhere, I managed to get behind him and swept his feet out from underneath him, then straightened to hold one blunt end of the staff to his throat.

"Seriously. You remind me of that scientist guy I killed, _whatever_ his name was."

Tseng was not a fan of being in a compromising position, and if it were a sword I was holding, he'd have been in one. He had a legitimate scowl on his face. "I think we're done here for today."

"Excellent. I could not agree more," I said with a smirk. I withdrew my staff and helped him abruptly to his feet. Elena came over with a towel and a bottle of water for her boss, while I got a water bottle from Reno who was suddenly interested in encroaching on my personal space. Flirty romantic thoughts in Elena's mind, lecherous ones in Reno's, which I felt deserved him the sharp hit to his solar plexus that sent him quickly to the floor.

I stalked over to an empty chair next to the wall that Reno originally occupied and sat down, slouching.

Rufus strode in, leaning on a cane. The Turks immediately straightened at his presence, and Rude went to help him sit in a chair. He sat down, facing me. "How is your mission coming along, Seria?"

"It's coming along. Most of them seem to trust me, while others are a little guarded." I took a swig from the water bottle.

His eyes narrowed. "That's it?"

"Well, what did you want? Birth dates, astrological signs? If so, Tifa's _definetly_ a Libra. She's got this twisted sense of justice that she forces on everybody."

"What I _want_, Seria," he began sternly. "Is to find out what Avalanche is doing in secret. What I _want_ is to find that out, and then tear it down from the inside. Most of all, I want them to suffer for degrading me to... To _this_." He angrily waved his cane in my face.

I slowly moved to lean forward so I could glare right back at him. "Listen, Rufie. I'm going through with my part in this mission just fine. I've _got_ their trust. I haven't caught wind of any big evil scheme they're putting together, spoken out loud or in their minds, and well, Shinra is pretty much _dead_ to them. _If_ they cared about the Shinra Electric Power Company, they don't consider it a threat. At all." I said the final words slowly and clearly to drive the point home. It was fun watching Mr. President sit there and stew.

"Your _mission_," he spat. "Is to infiltrate Avalanche and find out what they're up to, and then tear it down."

"You're right, of course." I said, smiling brightly. "How you expect me to learn everything _overnight_ is the issue, I think."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that maybe Aeris wasn't the best role to be playing here."

"Then who _else_-"

"Think about it. She's tiny, frail, and just managed to bounce back from the dead after, what, three years? If there is something monumentally important that her old friends are up to, whether it be doing nasty things about Shinra's 'good' name to anything to do with Sephiroth or genetics, don't you think she would be one of the last people to find out?" I illustrated for him. "Her character has a history, and to be mindful of that history, perhaps they're protecting her from finding out any further information that could challenge her emotionally." I let his thoughts swim in that for a bit before finishing. "If there's anything to be found out, it's going to take me a little more time to extract the information because of the part I'm playing."

"You _will_ finish your mission."

"No doubt. But whether or not this _mission_ is anything more than the rabid paranoia of a broken man remains to be seen," I said. "How's your leg? You never did tell me what happened to it."

He didn't say anything, just gestured for Rude to help him to his feet so he could walk out in cold silence. He didn't have to say anything though, I caught images from his mind. Sitting in a wheelchair with a sheet over his face and body, a young man with silver hair... Maybe that's who Denzel was talking about.

I looked pointedly at Reno. "Was there something I missed last year? Who were these three guys with silver hair?"

"Oh. More of Seph's kids I think, never really figured that out," he answered casually.

I narrowed my eyes in a glare. "_What!?_"

Reno's mind backpedaled really quickly. "I mean, not like _you_. Well, no one's like you... Let me restart: Wherever they came from, they're not _our_ fault."

"Why do I find it hard to believe that?" I snapped.

"Hey, we didn't even know you existed until Hojo came outta nowhere and said 'I have a plan'."

"What was this plan?"

"It was hard to make out through all his insane cackling. But the general idea, I think, was to use you to try to find the Promised Land..."

"But you guys found it already. It's Midgar."

"Yeah, so we decided to get someone on the inside of Avalanche instead. Rufus is certain they're plotting against him, no matter what anyone says."


	10. Home

I held my cellphone to my ear as I climbed over the rubble that was once the city of Midgar. Shinra's 'base camp' was hidden well inside the ruined city, where no one cared to look. The other end was ringing for a while, though I had barely noticed, I was distracted trying to untangle my impractical outfit from debris. Finally, he had picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, dad. It's me." It was good to hear his voice. It had been a while.

"What did you do this time?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"You only ever call me when you're in trouble. What's the matter?"

I laughed. "Good to hear from you too."

"So what's new?"

"Well... I just wanted to talk, that's all. There's just been... A lot of stuff going on lately."

"I knew it. You _are_ in trouble."

"Daaad..." I groaned.

"Okay, okay, I'll back down. I'm sure you can take care of yourself."

"Thanks. I just, I can handle it, I just want to talk, okay? I'm having a little bit of an identity crisis."

"What's the matter?"

"Well.... When were you going to tell me I was adopted?"

"What do you mean?" His voice wavered.

"I'm not mad, I just wanted to know."

"What are you talking about? You have your mother's hair, and my nose-"

"And my eyes? I know where I get those from now." _Recessive gene my ass._

"... We were going to wait until you were older, say about twenty. We didn't want it affecting how you grew up or how you lived your life. I mean, could you imagine your life if we'd told you when you were younger? We just wanted you to define yourself by your own standards, that's all. We weren't going to keep it from you forever."

"And now that I know?"

"I'd say it really shouldn't affect how you view your life. It doesn't matter what anybody says; You've always been very independent and never let anybody pressure you into being who you're not. I feel like I can hardly take credit for helping Anna raise you, you've always done things your own way no matter what we tried to impress upon you."

"... Thanks, dad. I kinda knew all that already, but I just needed to hear it from you." It was a good choice to call my father. It was one of the few moments I could be honest in the middle of all this. "How are you doing? We haven't really spoken since mom died..."

"Not to worry Seria, your old man is fine."

"I'm not sure I believe you. Are you eating right? Because I could make dinner and bring it over later this week."

He laughed. "I'll be okay, sweetie, though your cooking is always welcome in my fridge. I'd appreciate the company too, but don't let little old me get in the way of whatever it is you're doing these days."

The hike from the Shinra base to the old abandoned church was a blur while I talked to my father. As I was coming up to it, I noticed Cloud's bike parked outside. He had probably noticed I dissapeared and came looking for me. My heart sank a bit. It was time to end the call with my dad and put on a fake smile once again.

"Sorry dad, I have to go. I'll try to stop by later this week, okay?"

"Okay. Love you sweetie, stay out of trouble."

"Love you too. Bye." I hung up. I put the phone away and approached the church. I saw Cloud through one of the broken windows and he marched out of the doors to greet me.

"Aeris?" he called. He sounded tired and worried.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same thing. Where have you been? Everyone's worried about you."

"I'm sorry. I just..." I took a glance back at the ruins. "I wanted to see it up close. It's still so shocking to see it like this. I just took a walk around it, that's all."

"You should've brought someone with you. The last time you took off on your own..." His mind went to seeing Aeris impaled by Sephiroth. All the shock and anger that he felt then boiled out of him now. "You should be more careful. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again."

"Hey!" I snapped. "I can take care of myself, I don't need a babysitter! _Maybe_ I went off on my own because I'm tired of everyone treating me like I'm made of glass!"

He was a little taken aback by it. It was probably the most honest thing I'd ever said to him to date, and my anger and ferocity was real. Even my dad didn't get in my way when I was a child. Like he said, nobody could stop me from doing things my own way.

"Are you avoiding me?" Cloud asked.

"And what if I am?" I shot back.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Denzel wants the chance to apoligize too. It's not your fault that... Well..."

"That I have Sephiroth's eyes?"

"It doesn't matter what you look like now. You're Aeris. _Our_ Aeris. We just want you to come home."

I looked towards the ground and thought it over. I had had my fight with Cloud, I should forgive him and continue playing along to avoid sacrificing the mission. This couldn't linger in the air for too long.

"Okay," I said. "I just have one last stop to make." I looked towards the old stone church.

"You haven't been inside yet?"

"No, I was saving it for last." I looked up at him with a grin. "_Something_ tells me you didn't take care of my flowers while I was gone."


	11. Voices

"Aeris?"

It was a lot to take in - At least, I'm sure it _would've_ been, were I the real Aeris. The church was completely destroyed. It was in bad shape before, according to the photos Tseng showed me of it from before Meteorfall, so I could at least spot the differences. Several windows were completely shattered, and some more support beams had fallen from the ceiling. A giant stone column was fallen across the middle of the church and several wooden pews where broken or in the case of one, completely smashed into splinters. There was water damage on the far wall, and a small stream of water still trickling in. The stone column in the middle of the church made it impossible to see the flower bed right away.

"Aeris? You okay?"

"What... What happened in here!?" I asked, feigning shock.

Cloud rubbed the back of his neck guiltily, avoiding my gaze. "We had some trouble just over a year ago... There were a couple of fights in here."

"Did you put your bike through that window?" I pointed to one of the broken stained glass windows. Most were just missing sections, but this one was completely shattered, and seemed to be in line with the stone column.

"Would you be angry if I said yes?" he asked.

I spun on my heel and sent him a juevenile glare. Then I marched over to the column and attempted to climb over it. If I wasn't pretending to be Aeris, it would've been a piece of cake.

"Could you help me over this thing?" I asked.

He was instantly on top of the column reaching down for my hand. I took his, and he pulled me up quickly. I got my first view of the flower bed and gasped. It was flooded. Of _course_. I smacked his shoulder before running to the pool of water where a bed of lillies used to be.

There was something weird about it. I just couldn't put my finger on it. Upon seeing it, Cloud's mind filled with images of the events of last year. There was some illness that he and Denzel had, and this pool of water cured it. Lifestream. It had a little bit of Lifestream in it. Maybe that's why I was getting an uneasy feeling from seeing it.

Nevertheless, I took off my boots and sat on the lip of the broken floorboards, dipping my toes in it. Over a year's time exposed to the elements, it was still fairly clean and clear. There were even a couple of waterlillies floating on the other side of the small pond. Personally, I think this was an improvement over the flowers, but for now I just sat silently in awe.

It didn't take long before Cloud came up next to me and sat down. He was silent too, the only thing he gave me was a sly smile, as if he'd found out a secret I was keeping. I guess no one really knew about the Lifestream being so close to the surface here until last year.

"Look," he suddenly said. I looked at him to find out where, and he pointed to the water at my feet. "Your reflection."

I pulled my feet out of the water and looked. My reflection in the water wasn't quite what I was expecting. My eyes were green, plus a dozen other differences. I brought up my right hand, which has had a large freckle on the back of it my entire life, to see my reflection mimic the same motion. No freckle on her side. Her hands were also smaller and daintier than mine. It didn't take me long to realize that it wasn't my reflection. It was Aeris looking back at me. The _real _Aeris.

"How?" I breathed. My jaw dropped open. Aeris smiled gently back at me.

"See? I knew you were the real Aeris," Cloud said to me. "The Lifestream remembers who you are."

If he had been _any_ smarter, he would realize that his own words would've blown my whole cover. Which was predicated on the Lifestream sorta forgetting exactly what I looked like, spirit energy mixup and all. I had to choke back my panic and fake a flattered smile his way, before my eyes quickly returned to the pool.

"Uhm... Can I be alone for a little bit?" I asked quietly. "I'll just be a minute or two."

"Sure. I'll be outside." Cloud got to his feet and I heard him leave. I didn't even hear him scale the column, there was just a brief break in his steps before I heard them on the other side.

I straightened, and quickly shuffled over to the column to peek over it and make sure he was gone. Then I went back to the pool of water and cast an accusing look at 'my' reflection, who was still Aeris.

I sighed. "That was a close one," I said quietly to myself.

I heard someone giggle. A female voice. My eyes darted all over the church. It sounded strange, like an echo in my head. Maybe it _was_ in my head.

**Sorry.**

"What?" I demanded. "Who is that?"

**Me, silly!**

I looked back to the water. 'Aeris' waved to me with a big smile.

**I just had to see you for myself**, she spoke from the water. Her lips moved with her words and everything. There was no doubt about it.

"I've gone insane. _Wonderful_," I hissed. I looked out over the water, hoping that when I looked back at my reflection, it would actually be _my_ reflection, signalling the end of this hallucination. When I looked back, she was still there, as exhuberant as ever.

**Hey now. You listen to people's thoughts all the time, but you think you're crazy when someone speaks into yours?** she asked.

"Frankly, yes. It's nice being the only one with that advantage," I said plainly. She laughed. "Cloud is going to hear me, and think I'm crazy. Then probably dice me into tiny meaty pieces."

**Don't worry. I used to do the same sort of thing. For years, this was the only place I could hear the Lifestream... And my mother.**

"I can't hear the Lifestream," I responded automatically.

**No, but you can hear **_**me**_**.**

I thought about it for a minute. Did I just find another ally?

**You should probably get going. He'll come looking for you if you keep him waiting.**

"Okay," I mumbled uncertainly. I grabbed my boots and started putting them back on. "Hey, are you okay with me pretending to be you? Because if it were me I wouldn't be, and I'd probably hate my doppleganger and-"

**Just make sure you visit, okay? Brush and floss your teeth every day!**

"What?"

**Well, it's what a mother would say, I guess. I just wanted to say it for once.**

"Aeris?" Cloud called into the church for me.

"Gotta go. Bye," I said in a hurried whisper. 'Aeris' waved to me from the pool.

I went over to the column and feigned difficulty getting over it again. Before I knew it he was there to help me up, and we left the church in silence. He started up his bike and I hopped on behind him, holding him tightly around his waist. We started off back to Edge, where I would be swarmed with more of Avalanche's members and have to pretend I'm the dead Aeris they all knew and loved.


	12. Still not listening

"One chocobo wing platter and two My Final Heavens, coming right up!" I said cheerfully. It was honestly kind of fun working at Tifa's bar. I spun on one heel and headed back to the kitchen, where Tifa was preparing all the meals. "Table four needs a chocobo wing platter and two My Final Heavens... That's a drink, right?"

Tifa smiled. "Yes it is. My own invention."

"Really? What's in it?" I asked curiously.

"The recipe is a trade secret, but I'll tell you one thing: It's non-alcoholic."

"How? But it's so popular."

"I know. They think it is, but they don't believe me when I tell them otherwise. That's because it packs a real kick."

Denzel came into the room. "Tifa, the Turks are here."

_What!?_ "The Turks?" I asked.

"Oh," Tifa said, oblivious. "Just Reno and Rude. They're regulars. Don't know what happened to the others." She thought for a moment, and turned to me. "Do you want me to kick them out? We consider them harmless, but with you here..."

"No no, it's okay. That was a long time ago," I said. "What's their usual? I'll bring it to them."

"Well, just to be safe, I'll tend the bar to watch you. I need to mix some drinks anyway. Denzel? How about you start on the dishes, okay?"

Denzel nodded obediently. Tifa smiled and tussled his hair before we left the kitchen. She had a waiting lineup of three old men at the bar who watched her intently as she juggled bottles expertly and made their drinks. In her mind she was calling them sleazy and dirty and would kick them out in a heartbeat if they weren't regulars, thinking that if they ever made a pass at her she'd break all their fingers. On the surface, however, she was smiling and almost flirtatious, pretending to enjoy their leers. She was a natural at this.

Before I knew it, she dropped two drinks onto a platter and handed it to me. "For table seven, in the corner," she smiled. "The usual." I didn't need to look at the drinks to know what they were, her thoughts were loud and amused. A My Final Heaven for Reno, who would order them all night expecting to get hammered, and a small glass of straight rum for Rude, who would sip the same glass for the whole night.

I brought the drinks to table seven, a small table in the far corner next to the window and the wall of picture frames. "Hello! I'm Aeris, I'll be serving you tonight. Though I'm sure you knew that already," I smiled playfully. "It's only four-thirty, isn't it a little early to be drinking?"

"Well hello, beautiful. I'd heard the news, but I thought I was dreaming." Reno snatched up his drink from the tray and took a swig before continuing. He licked his lips and looked me up and down lecherously, but in his thoughts he was thinking about how I knocked him to the floor earlier today. It hurt his pride a bit. "Maybe once your shift is over we can..."

"Reno," Tifa called in a gentle warning tone from the bar. "Don't give me a reason to throw you out," she scolded, still in a fake flirting tone.

"Don't worry doll, I'd never cause enough of a fuss to lose this reservation! I wouldn't get to see your sweet face anymore, and that'd just break my heart!" he called back.

Tifa smiled, but there was an edge to it. She was still watching, even though she went back to her other doting fans.

"So..." I took a seat next to Rude. "How are things with you guys? What happened to Tseng?" _I_ already knew he survived, but the last time the _real_ Aeris saw him, she thought he died at the Temple of the Ancients.

"Well..."

Cloud strode in, back from another delivery. He saw me sitting with the Turks and glared, then immediately strode over to Tifa to whisper to her about it. He was concerned that this was a bad idea, a _very_ bad one, and she tried to reassure him that it seemed okay. Before anything more could be said by anyone, there was a chorus of screams outside.

"Cloud!" Someone ran into the bar. "Monster! There's a monster attacking the city!"

Cloud's expression turned to stone. He charged over to the window to take a look for himself. "Not a monster," he breathed.

Tifa was at his side looking out the window with everyone else. "It's a summon. It's Titan! Who would summon inside the city!?"

Wordlessly, Cloud brought his cellphone to his ear. "Tifa, keep Aeris and Denzel safe. I'll call the others," he said, punching in Cid's number.

"What? Why don't I get to fight!?" I said indignantly. I doubt Aeris would've liked being protected like this either. "I can help, this is my home too!"

"No. Stay here where it's safe," he ordered. "Cid, where are you?"

"Cloud, let me help! I can't just sit here!" I insisted.

"I need you. Now. Get everyone," he said into the phone.

"Are you listening to me? I said I can-"

He turned and grabbed me by the arms, almost violently. "_I can't lose you again!_" he yelled. I was stunned. "You're always saying you'll be fine and going off on your own, but don't you remember what happened _last time!?_ Not again, not while I'm here!" His eyes were wild.

"Okay. I'll stay," I agreed under duress, angry to have to appease his fragile sanity. He let go, and stormed out of the building reaching for the sword on his back.

"_Wow_." Reno said. "Did that just happen?"

"Reno! Rude! Could I hire you for something?" I said desperately. They looked at me strangely. "Just go out there, and evacuate everyone! Make sure everyone is safe."

"You hardly need to ask," Reno saluted me with his baton before he and Rude were out the door.

"Denzel, take everyone out the back door, try to get away from the town center. Head south," I heard Tifa shout into the kitchen. I turned to her. She was pulling her gloves on.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"What?" she said, smiling. She threw me my staff. "You never listened to him before."

I caught it and grinned. "Let's go."


	13. From all sides

Titan bellowed and bashed the ground with both hands clasped infront of him. The impact sent a fissure through the concrete towards Cloud. He lept off the ground before it reached him, and charged Titan. Titan tore a giant boulder out of the ground infront of him and hurled it at Cloud. Cloud cut through the boulder with ease, but his swing was blocked by Titan's massive stone hands. Titan furiously deflected Cloud's strikes, taking a step back to tear the ground out from underneath him and fling it aside, Soldier included. Cloud barely had time to stand before another fissure challenged his balance from the last strike.

I raised a hand and cast Cure 3 on him. He wasn't too happy to see me.

"Aeris! Get back inside!" he yelled fiercely.

"And if Titan flattens the building then, what would you do?" I shot back.

"Get out of here, damnit! Aeris-"

"I'm here. At least let me heal!"

He was still unhappy, but we had bigger problems. Titan tore the side out of a nearby office building and threw it at Tifa and myself. I stumbled aside one way while Tifa deftly cartwheeled the other way. I quickly cast Wall linked with All on the three of us. _That should soften the blows, though I do hate playing defense_, I thought.

Tifa got in close and delivered a few devastating blows before being slapped aside. She hit a nearby pole badly, and was stunned. Titan wasted no time in smashing the ground to open a fissure underneath her. She came to just in time to fall into the cracked earth and ran up the sides of the fissure. I started running towards her. Tifa got her hands on the mouth of it, but the earth fell away under her hands. I reached one end of my staff down just in time for her to grasp it, and used her momentum to swing her out onto solid ground.

"Thanks," she breathed. Then she took a defensive stance. "Do you hear that!?"

I did. We looked to the west and there was a giant tidal wave washing over the city, taller than some of the skyscrapers. I grabbed Tifa by the hand and pulled her back to the concrete sledge of wall that Titan had thrown at us and hid behind it. I looked back at Titan and he threw Cloud into a fifth-story window. The enormous tidal wave crashed around us, unsettling our makeshift shelter slightly, but not enough to crush us. The waves moved past us, and before it cleared away it all turned into ice. We came out of hiding. We had Leviathan and Shiva to contend with now.

"Where are they coming from!?" I asked in a panic.

"I don't know!" Tifa gasped. "Take Leviathan! I'll take Shiva!"

It would've been easier to divide the work, had the summoned monsters not been in cahoots. Leviathan writhed and lashed his tail to unfreeze the water and move it, and Shiva manipulated it further to make defensive walls and frozen daggers out of it. It was a mercy that Cloud was keeping Titan occupied, because the two of us couldn't conquer the summoned tag team as it was. I got in Bolt 3 where I could, but that didn't seem to slow down Leviathan by much. Just as he finally seemed to be slowing down, he made a pronounced whipping motion with his tail and brought more seawater over us, knocking us down, then Shiva turned it to large ice spikes that surrounded us and held us in place.

It looked bad. Real bad.

Then out of the sky a spear struck Leviathan fiercely. Cid had rode down on it from his airship, then held out his arm for Yuffie to land on and take off from as she threw her shuriken in mid-air towards Titan. It was enough to make the earthen behemoth release Cloud from his grasp. Red sieged Shiva from where he lept off a tall building, and Vincent spiralled his way out of the sky and opened fire at Titan.

"Cavalry's here!" Cid announced proudly, pulling his spear from a pained Leviathan. "We couldn't grab Barret or Reeve!"

"Still, am I ever glad to see you guys!" Tifa called back.

I cast Fire 3 near Tifa and myself to melt the ice quickly. With most of the party together we made short work of the summons. Cid and I took care of Leviathan, Tifa and Red XIII were on top of Shiva, and Cloud, Vincent and Yuffie managed to deplete the last of Titan's strength.

We gathered together in the middle of the intersection. "How did this happen?" Red XIII asked. "Who would use summons here?"

"Whoever it is, they're still here," Vincent said darkly. "Down!" he barked.

Everyone flattened against the ground just in time to avoid a diving Phoenix, come to join the fight. The giant red bird of life straightened and breathed on us and the fallen summons. It wasn't on our side, of course, and Shiva, Titan, and Leviathan were back in the fight.

"Okay," Cloud said unruffled. "Round two."

Phoenix breathed again, torching the buildings behind us. We soon had to contend with falling debris. I cast Wall on Yuffie, Cid, and Red as we rolled out of the way of another boulder hurled by Titan. We started sprinting away from the carnage to run straight into Shiva, who had created and slid up a slope of ice she made from a wave Leviathan had raised, then shot ice spikes at us from the top. The summons were trying to corner us.

"Vincent! Yuffie!" Cloud called.

They got their signal. Yuffie lept onto Vincent's shoulder and steadied herself, and he in turn pushed off from the ground to get them both in the air. She came down on top of Leviathan and he opened fire at Phoenix. Cloud, Tifa, and Red charged straight out of the barricade they had made around us, while Cid and I took advantage of Shiva's distraction. He threw his spear but she managed to catch it in a wall of ice she frantically made. I jumped up and smashed through the ice with my staff, and cast a Fire 3 that sent her spiralling off her slope. Red had cut to the right and pounced off the boulder Titan made to chomp down on Phoenix's wing, taking the bird to the ground. Cloud and Tifa had finished their charge into Titan, and together had pushed him into a building. I slid down the slope and hit Shiva with another Fire 3, though I hardly needed to, she was done for. Leviathan smacked me with his tail from behind and I fell to the ground on my hands, but I rolled out of the way before he could crash a wave into me. Yuffie landed between us and threw her shuriken at Leviathan. She missed, but Cid's spear didn't from where he snuck up from the right. Phoenix tried to breathe towards Leviathan and Shiva, but another well-timed chomp from Red had it squealing in pain again.

The summons were defeated and vanishing into the air.

"Hopefully that's the last of them," Cloud said, breathing. I cast a Cure 3 to bring his strength back. I sent a couple to Tifa and Red too, they looked like they'd had better days.

"There. Is everyone okay?"

"No," Cloud said sharply. "Those summons were being controlled by several people who might still be here."

"Or _one_ person powerful enough to control all four," Red pointed out. The looks on everyone's faces sent a shiver down my spine.

Cloud snapped them back to reality. "We need to spread out and search, _now_. Cid, get back to your ship and be our eyes above. Vincent, you and Yuffie get to the roof of that building over there, see if you find anything on the rooftops. Red-"

"Uhm, excuse me-" I tried to interject.

"Tifa, take Aeris inside," he said through clenched teeth.

"Hey! Can I just say one thing!? Or am I suddenly not part of this party anymore?" I said angrily.

"Fine. What is it?"

"None of them touched that building to the northwest. They seemed to be protecting it," I pointed out.

A couple faces lit up while others viewed me with skepticism. Cloud quickly reconsidered his orders. "Vincent, Yuffie, and Red, search that building to the northwest floor by floor. Make sure you find whoever's in there. Everyone else, back to the bar."

The three of them were off in hot pursuit. The rest of us headed back to Seventh Heaven, which, surprisingly, hadn't been damaged too much in the attack, though the rest of the city block was in very rough shape. Tifa was on her cellphone calling Denzel back. I was walking alongside Tifa when a heavy hand grabbed me by the shoulder. I spun on my heel and slapped Cloud across the face with a loud, painful crack.

"What was that for?" he asked, astonished.

"What do you _think_ it was for!?" I screamed up at him.


	14. Disrespect

"... Are you kids okay?" Cid asked cautiously.

Cloud ground his teeth a little. "You heard me. I said-"

"_Screw_ that! What did I tell you earlier? I'm not going to let you treat me like I'm made of glass, and I'm _definitely_ not going to sit on the sidelines while all my friends are in the fight of their lives!" I said, shaking in defiance.

"Tifa, you were supposed to keep her safe!" Cloud snapped.

"Maybe, but frankly, I have to agree with her on this one," Tifa said as she moved to stand between me and him.

His glare deepened at Tifa. "Explain."

"Gladly!" she said. "Imagine that whole fight with just _five_ people instead of _seven_. Where it was the three of us having trouble before the rest of them came, it would've been just you against three summons. You're strong, but not _that _strong. In fact, having Aeris and myself out there probably made the difference in the end. You took the _most_ punishment out of anyone, and she healed you and kept you in the fight. You should thank her for your _life_."

Cloud was at a loss for words. He looked to Cid to back him up. "Cid?"

"Hey, don't look at me, boy. Woman makes good sense. If you'd tried to put Tif on the bench, she'd have knocked you flat. You'd be out for a week," Cid contributed.

"Thank you, Cid," Tifa grinned.

"Try to think of it this way, son," Cid took Cloud by the shoulders and started for Seventh Heaven, and Tifa and I followed behind. "Girl's got a new lease on life, she'll finally be able to do whatever she wants. We should back down, and let her _live_ it the way she wants. Last time, she didn't get that chance. It's not fair to keep a leash on her, now that she's got the time to _enjoy_ the time she has."

"Yeah!" Tifa agreed enthusiastically. "Besides, we're a team, we should work together like one. There's no sense in keeping two of us out of the fight like that!"

"Thank you," I said to both of them. Cid turned back to smile at me, then reached back and put his other arm around my shoulders too.

"Ain't a problem at all. Just callin' it as I see it," Cid said. "Do me a favour and play nice, you two. I already got Shera on my back about this thing n' that, I could use a little less excitement at my age."

Cloud had a displeased look on his face, but he said nothing. He hated it but he couldn't argue with good sense. I could tell that there was still going to be tension between us, but that didn't matter. Mission or not, I wasn't going to let him restrain me. Besides, it seemed to fit with the character I was playing.

"Tifa, would you be kind enough to make me some tea?" Cid asked as we entered Seventh Heaven.

"Sure. What kind?" she inquired. She went behind the bar to grab the teapot and a mug.

"Whatever you think is best. Decaf, though. Shera's makin' me cut back. Says it's messin' with my sleep."

"Is she right to think so?" Tifa asked, smiling.

"Tha's a matter of perspective," he said charmingly.

It wasn't long after we sat down before Yuffie burst in the door, followed by Vincent, then Red. "We searched the building," she began. "Top to bottom _and_ bottom to top. We couldn't find anything."

"Nothing?" Tifa asked. She was worried, because they seemed worried.

"No trace of anyone there," Vincent clarified.

"Nothing except a familiar scent," Red finished. "I can't figure out where I've smelled it before." He was honestly confused, and everybody in the room was worried about something.

That's what got to me. Worried about _something_. I couldn't even figure it out for myself from their thoughts, because all of them were in denial about what it was they were worried about. They were protectiong 'Aeris' from it, too, which was annoying and had bad implications. What could be _so_ horrible that every last one of them fears it? Aren't these guys supposed to be heroes?

Yuffie found a chair and slumped into it dejectedly.

"Yuffie," Vincent said, as if he was reminding her of something.

"Yeah, Vince, I'll tell them," the young ninja said. "Guys? I have a confession to make."

Cloud straightened from where he sat, and Tifa looked up from the bar. Cid continued to slouch and stare at the tea that Tifa brought him. "Let's hear it," Cloud said.

She crossed her arms and looked away, angry at some point on the wall. "Okay. Someone _might_ have found my stash of materia, back in Wutai." She sighed, she was mad and beating herself up. "I noticed some were out of place, but I didn't know any were actually missing until yesterday."

"Someone stole materia from you?" Tifa inquired, a tad shocked.

Yuffie was on her feet in an instant. "I know! Can you believe it!? Someone actually _dared_ to go into my stash and steal from me! _Me!_ The Great Yuffie Kisaragi!" Yuffie declared, hands to her hips. She growled her anger. "I'm so mad, I could, I could-"

"Which ones were missing?" Cloud asked, concerned. He was worried more might be missing.

She slouched back into her chair. "Just some summon materia. I thought it was some kid, actually. It was just a handful of some of the lame ones; Shiva, Leviathan, Titan, and Phoenix. I mean, there was _way_ better stuff there, and _that's_ all they took? They weren't even mastered."

"I guess we know where they got to," Cid said, looking up briefly from his tea.


	15. Sneaking out

"How long are you going to keep her in the dark?"

After a very brief discussion about the day's events, we had had dinner and closed up shop, then I made it a point to say goodnight to everyone except Cloud. It seemed like the catty and pointless thing to do. Right now I was pretending to be asleep while I listened to Cloud and Tifa's muffled voices just outside my door.

"Forever, if I can manage it," I heard Cloud say.

"Have you gone crazy? There's no way she's not going to figure it out."

"She's been through enough already. Like Cid said earlier, she's got another chance at a good life. She might be upset at me for protecting her, but I want to make sure she gets it."

"She's also not the type to sit still. Sure, you can _try_ and give her a happy ending all you want, but would she take it?"

"My mistake last time was letting her get involved in the first place. Maybe if I'd never agreed to be her bodyguard-"

"Then she would've been used for some experiment when the Turks gave her to Hojo. Honestly, I don't think that would've been _any_ better for her. By the Ancients, when we broke into the lab he was trying to get Red to get her pregnant!"

_Dear Ancients, seriously? Gross,_ I thought. Then I was confused. _How would that even work?_

"Keep your voice down, I don't want to wake her."

"Whatever. My point is, she's not going to put up with being protected forever, no matter what you seem to think. She's going to know there's trouble, and she's going to want to be right at the center of it with the rest of us."

They said their goodnights, then went to their room at the other end of the hall. I waited about two hours to make sure they were asleep. Then, I carefully made my way out the window and down the side of the building into a tight alleyway, maybe about three feet wide, between the bar and the store next door. It was a tough climb made worse with the crazy dress and getup, and still had to make sure I was unheard and unseen. I held my staff against my chest in my left hand, then slowly climbed down by sliding with my feet and using my free hand to slow my descent. I landed softly in garbage bags at the bottom, then had to climb over those to get out of the alleyway. I was walking down the quiet streets heading north and thought I was in the clear. The streets were empty after the attack today, though there were a couple squatters in the distance whose homes had been flooded or destroyed in the attack. I wonder what will happen to them?

I heard someone lightly fall to the ground behind me and brought my staff to bear. "Kind of late for you to be out," a familiar voice said.

I spun on my heel and raised my staff only for my breath to catch in my throat. "Vincent!" I gasped. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"You were pretty quiet," he fell in line next to me as I continued north.

"I'm a teenage girl who's had boyfriends my parents didn't exactly approve of," I grinned deviously. "You get good at sneaking out."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Anywhere but _here_," I groaned. "I don't know what Aeris was really like, but I can't _stand_ it when guys try to be all chivalrous and junk. I need to get the hell away from Cloud." Vincent's thoughts were amused at that. "Say, why are you coming with me? Nothing better to do?"

He didn't say anything. He didn't need to though. Everyone was worried about something, including him, even if it didn't show as easily in his face. He thought that because of the role I'm playing I might be in more danger. So he was escorting me, _wonderful_.

"I don't need a bodyguard," I hissed under my breath. "But I would like to show you something."


	16. Mother and Father

"Uhm, hello again," I said out loud as I leaned over the pool of water. I took Vincent to the church I was at earlier today.

"Who are you talking to?" he asked curiously.

I pointed to the reflection in the water. Instead of it pointing back at me, the reflection of Aeris waved.

**Hello! Oh, you brought Vincent with you! Tell him I say hi,** she said enthusiastically.

"I'm guessing you can't hear her?" I asked him.

"Should I?"

"Great. I guess I'm the only one with a voice in my head," I sighed. "She says hi."

**Hey! I'm not just a voice, okay?**

** "**She looks upset," he remarked, amused.

"She started talking to me when I was here earlier today," I explained. "Aeris," I began. "I need information."

She bit her bottom lip cautiously. **What do you want to know? **she asked.

"Where do I start?" I mused. "Well, do you know what happened last year? First thing anybody pointed out was my eyes. Denzel said they're similar to the eyes that belonged to three guys he saw a year ago."

**Oh yeah, his 'brothers' I guess you could call them,** she explained. **I don't really fully understand it myself, they said they were Sephiroth's brothers and they were looking for Jenova's head. They made a big mess, but it's okay, they're back with Planet now. I made sure of it myself.**

"Are there any more like them around?"

** Unless you count yourself, no.**

"I'd rather not," I grimaced.

** Oh, sorry.**

"Well, who _else_ could threaten the Planet? Why is everyone so damn worried?" I said angrily. "I mean, Sephiroth's dead, his _'brothers' _are dead, even Hojo's dead," I thought out loud. "Vincent, do you know anything - or anyone - that could threaten the Planet?"

"No one. A few months ago, maybe, but it's been taken care of," he said darkly.

**Uhm...** Aeris interjected sudddenly.

"Yes?" I prodded.

**That Sephiroth... It's always been weird with him. He died, returned to the Planet, but no one can really hear him down here. Still, I can sense a little whether he's here or not-**

"Wait, what are you getting at?" I asked shocked. I didn't like where this was going.

"What is she saying?" Vincent asked.

"I think she's saying that," I breathed. "Sephiroth is alive."

"Yes," a deep, unfamiliar voice said from behind us. "I am."

It happened quickly. Vincent and I spun around to confront him, and before we could react Vincent had been slashed across the chest and thrown aside like a rag doll. I brought my staff to bear just in time to catch his blade, but he was stronger than I anticipated. He was probably the only person I've ever met who was honestly stronger than me. I held my ground at the edge of the pool just barely, and my gaze was fixed on his frozen eyes.

He wasn't expecting to see me. "You're not the Ancient," he said, focussed on my eyes.

"No. I'm not," I hissed back.

I snarled and pushed him back as hard as I could. He took another swing and I deflected it, then just barely deflected another. He was fast and unrelenting, and I wasn't as skilled with as staff as I'd have liked to be. I played defense and fought for my life. I used the exchange to time his attacks so I could better predict them, and the moment I had an opening, I cast a Fire 3 spell to knock him back. It really didn't do much more than stun him for a milisecond.

But it was enough.

Vincent, who had somehow transformed into a savage monster, charged into him from the back. I ducked down and gave him a kick from beneath as they went sailing above me. The two of them went overhead into the pool of water and Lifestream.

Sephiroth was not very happy about that. He got to his feet with a howl, then slashed Vincent again. Vincent was already down, though. He'd used the last of his strength for that final attack. He wasn't moving, and the pool was turning red with his blood.

"You _bastard!_" I screamed.

I lunged for him with my staff. He made a downward stroke with his sword that caught my staff and sent me flying off to the side into a stone wall. That stunned me for a moment, long enough for him to climb out of the edge of the pool. I picked up my staff where I lay, and the last strike had so badly deformed the metal that it literally snapped in two. I got to my feet and prepared to use it like a club.

"Aeris!?" I heard Cloud call from the front doors. _Great. Of course he would be here to save the day._

Sephiroth looked towards the doors. Then to me, coldly. "Another time," he said, then he leaped over my head with the grace of a cat, and out the open stone wall in the church.

"Cloud!" I called. I dropped what was left of my staff and jumped into the pool where Vincent was. I pulled his body to the edge of the pool, and I could feel his laboured breathing. He was still alive, though barely.

**Put your hand on his chest, quickly!** Aeris felt panicked in my head. I did as I was told. A green light came from my hand and sealed up the long nasty cuts across Vincent's chest. He was still unconscious though, and his breathing worried me. I couldn't be sure if it was enough.

"Aeris, are you okay? What happened?" Cloud came running up to us just as I finished healing him.

"Vincent's in bad shape. Sephiroth-"

"Sephiroth!? Where did he go?"

"Cloud, _listen!_ He's gone, okay? Vincent needs help! Call Cid on your cellphone, we need to get him to a hospital!"

He ground his teeth, remembering the reason why he came here. "Where's your phone?"

"At the bar. I figured you would check up on me, and try calling when you found out I was gone," I explained. His anger started to boil out of him, and I reflexively responded to his thoughts. "There's no time! Vincent is _dying_, we need help!"


	17. Calm before the storm

A gentle hand on my shoulder woke me. I looked up, startled, to see Vincent in a tube of liquid, and several strange machines around him. It took me a minute to remember what had happened: I had finally coerced Cloud into getting Cid to pick us up, then we flew to the WRO headquarters. Someone had explained to me that Vincent's physiology was very unique, and he wasn't a stranger to these regenerative vats, one of which he was now in.

"Hey, Aeris," a soothing male voice said. "I know you're concerned about him, but maybe you should get some rest yourself."

I looked up to see Reeve. "I just had to make sure he was okay for myself," I said honestly. "He saved my life today... How is he doing?"

"He's doing excellent, thanks to you. If you hadn't gotten to him when you did, we probably would have lost him on the way. You saved each other's lives," Reeve explained.

_I didn't do that_, I thought to myself. _Aeris did_. I stared into the vat of liquid at his face. He'd turned back from that monster form he had earlier. It was funny how he could look so dangerous and scary one minute and the next...

"He's going to wake up, right?" I asked.

Reeve let out a short chuckle. "Yes, but not if you keep staring at him. Let us take care of him for now, why don't I give you a tour of the facility in the meantime?"

"Okay," I agreed. I got up from the chair and followed Reeve out of the room. I liked Reeve. He wasn't much of a fighter, more of a pacifist really, and there was a gentle tone to his voice that made you want to like him. I'm sure Aeris would be glad to see the work he's been doing for the Planet, too.

"I know this really isn't the time, but I was actually kind of hoping that you'd visit me here. I want to show you everything that we're working on," he said. He started walking down the dimly lit corridor, and I followed behind. "One of the first things we did," he continued. "We went and recovered the materia responsible for bringing the world to the brink of destruction the first time."

"You have the black materia?" I asked, startled.

"Yes. The white materia, too. We have a dozen security measures and more on them at all times. So long as this organization exists, they will not be used to harm the planet again," he said firmly.

"How secure?"

"There are a dozen cameras on each, laser tripwire alarms, and 'round the clock security. If the alarm goes, it also goes directly to all of our cellphones so we can try and stop the thief ourselves. And if that wasn't enough, we even have them in twenty-four inch thick steel cells that are buried underneath the facility." He laughed. "Yuffie tested it herself until she couldn't do it without us catching her, and that was before we buried them. They're secure."

_Yuffie had materia stolen from her, maybe even by Sephiroth_, I thought. _It would explain the attack. I wonder if Reeve's been told yet?_

He showed me more of the facility. He explained that they had also accessed the rest of Hojo's reasearch and made an effort to track down any experiments running loose. That amused me a great deal. They had Barrett on part-time, who was in the field helping to decomission the last handful of Mako reactors while working his own business of finding new sources of energy to replace Mako power. They had a small paramilitary force, mostly volunteers and former Shinra soldiers, plus a handful of freelance mercenaries, that worked as security and as an emergency response team. Reeve pointed out that he didn't like the place crawling with soldiers, but with the events of just a couple months ago, he had to admit that it was a necessary evil, for now.

"Where's Cloud?" I asked suddenly. He wasn't lording over me while I was at the sickbay with Vincent, which was unusual with his current obsession on keeping me safe.

"He left. He's trying to track down Sephiroth," Reeve said. He had reservations about telling me, which was more pronounced when he'd said Sephiroth's name.

"He's trying to track him down?" I asked.

"Yes. He wants to confront him. He's brought everyone with him. Well, besides you, Vincent, and myself, of course."

_That idiot,_ I thought. _Sephiroth's done everything to avoid a direct confrontation. He's got something specific in mind that he wants, and he doesn't want to go through Cloud to get it. How is that fool a leader, anyway?_

"He's still keeping me out of it," I pointed out.

"He cares about you, Aeris," Reeve explained softly. "I won't excuse his actions, but I can see where he's coming from. He's doing what he thinks is best for you."

"But doesn't he realize that what _he_ wants isn't what _I_ want? I want to fight, too," I said defiantly.

"I'm sorry, Aeris. I really don't know what to say."

I sighed, tired of having to fight everyone's desire to protect me. "It's okay. I'm going to go see Vincent."

"Okay. You remember the way back?" I nodded. "I'm going to be in my office for a little bit, and then I'm going to head home. Feel free to call if you need anything."

I hugged him. "Thank you, Reeve. Take care of yourself." I said. I meant it. This might be the last time I got to speak to him on friendly terms.

I made my way back to the sickbay. Vincent was still out cold, floating in the blue liquid vat that was healing him. I took the chair next to him and put my hand on the glass. I knew he probably couldn't hear me, but I felt I needed to talk.

"Vincent," I began. "I'm sorry."


	18. Taken

"Vincent, I'm sorry."

He was climbing a mountain towards the voice. The sun was setting, casting the stone around him into orange and red hues. The voice was familiar, but his memory couldn't quite place it.

"I know that I've worked really hard to earn everyone's trust. I've held your life in my hands, and I know that you trust me."

"Lucretia?" he asked involuntarily under his breath. He dug into the stone easily with his clawed hand, and hastened his climb to the voice, silently hoping he would see her.

"I'm sorry I have to betray that now. When you wake up, you're probably going to be very upset with me. Heck, I know you'll be upset."

He reached the stone plateau at the top. He saw Aeris from the back, kneeling on the ground as if she was praying. She heard him and turned as she got to her feet, her clothes changing from pink to black. It wasn't Aeris, it was Seria. She pulled on a long black coat which materialized out of thin air. Her blue eyes looked dark green with the light from the sunset.

"Don't worry," she smiled softly. "I think I've finally figured out my purpose. I don't have a lot of time left, but I know what I have to do now."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She reached into a pocket and withdrew a materia. Even with the light, he could tell what it was. The black materia. "I'm the only one that can end this," she continued. She started stepping backwards on the small plateau.

"Seria!?" he howled fiercely, every corner of his mind sent reeling at the sight of the materia in her hand. "What are you doing?"

She continued back until she reached the edge of the plateau. "I'm going to see my father," she said, smiling broadly. Then she turned and jumped off the mountain out of sight.

* * *

Vincent awoke suddenly and violently. He found himself in a vat of liquid that was all too familiar, but the events of the dream had him shift into his Chaos form and tear his way through the glass like parchment paper. He landed on the floor in pain, his wounds slowing him down. He struggled to get to his feet in the mess of liquid and glass.

"Whoa, Vince! Easy big guy," Yuffie was at his side and put a hand on his shoulder. He put a massive clawed hand to his chest. His wounds were still tender, but sealed. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked.

He found the spot in his mind to send Chaos back to, and struggled to put the demon away. His body shook and convulsed painfully, but finally, he'd managed to resume his more human form.

"Where is she?" he said, gasping for air.

"... Aeris? Uhm, I'm sorry Vince, but-" Yuffie stammered, surprised. "She's gone. She dissapeared a couple days ago. You've been out for a while."

_A couple days_, he thought, chewing on the information. "What happened?" he demanded.

"Well... You were attacked by Sephiroth-"

"I know that part," he grimaced. "What else?"

"Oh, Aeris healed you, then dissapeared shortly after. Then, someone broke in and stole the black materia practically the next day." Yuffie trembled slightly at the implications. "The guards were found asleep, probably by magic, and the thief managed to disable the whole network. We have no camera feed, and we're still working on bringing it back up. Then, they got to the base of the facility and carved a hole in the cell containing the black materia. It..." she hesitated, nervously gulping before continuing. "It was cut with a sword. We think Sephiroth was responsible."

Vincent tried to get to his feet, but had some difficulty. "Help me stand," he said deeply, with a hint of urgency.

"Are you sure you're okay to stand? I mean, you don't look so-"

Vincent's red eyes burned at her briefly, though he said nothing.

"Right," Yuffie said, with no further arguement. "Here, put your arm around my shoulders."

Yuffie helped him get to his feet. "Reeve," he said. "Where is he?"

"He's still trying to fix the network. Someone went in and cut every cable in sight. They all have to be replaced and it's taking a while. He put in most of the wiring himself."

"Take me to him," Vincent demanded.

Yuffie obediently helped him down the hall to the server room. Reeve was busy in a nest of cables. He was working at installing the new ones and had Cait Sith running back and forth delivering tools and connecting cabling where it became hard for him to reach.

"Reeve," Vincent called.

"Vincent!" Reeve was elated to hear his voice. He shimmied out of the mess of the network. "You're awake. How are you?"

"Is it running yet?" he asked.

"Very shortly," Reeve proudly announced. "You might be able to login to the general database right now, but you can't go out from here. Sephiroth was diligent in cutting every single cable, it might be weeks before we're back to normal."

Vincent signalled to Yuffie to get him over to the console. "If it were Sephiroth your guards would be dead," he said. He took his arm from Yuffie's shoulders and used the panel to steady himself and he punched in his login.

Reeve was shocked as he digested that information, and Yuffie was furious. "Not Sephiroth? But, who else could have done this?" she demanded.

Vincent ran a search on Hojo's research and experimentation files. It didn't take him long to find the project that Seria was the product of. It was listed under his failed experiments, and the file went into detail why. Her estimated lifespan was only about twenty years, barely long enough for Hojo to groom her into the next Sephiroth. She was discarded, and Shinra forgot she even existed.

"I've never seen that file before," Reeve said.

"What's that, Vince?" Yuffie asked.

"Our thief," he answered. "Where's Cloud?"


	19. Reunion

"Do we have _any_ leads?" Cloud demanded.

Neither Tifa nor Red could offer him an answer. They had spent the last two days trying to find either Aeris or Sephiroth, as it was unanimously decided that one would inevitably lead to the other. They searched by air, on foot, and by systematically canvassing _every_ town for even as much as a rumour that one of the two had passed through there recently. Despite their efforts, they had found nothing.

And it was driving Cloud _insane_.

The ring of a cellphone broke the dense silence. "Sorry, that's me," Tifa said, raising her phone to her ear.

"Meeting adjourned," Cloud said tersely. His fragile patience had just about had it.

Cloud and Red had started to leave their seats to go above deck. "Wait! It's Vincent, he has something," Tifa insisted.

Before she could object, Cloud turned and abruptly snatched the phone out of her hand. "Vincent. What is it?" Tifa's and Red's eyes were locked on Cloud. The blood drained from his face, and he navigated his way back to his seat. "How long have you known?" he asked. There was a long pause. "Thank you," he said softly, then hung up.

"What is it? Did he find Aeris?" Tifa asked, hopeful.

"No," Cloud said, shaken. "Aeris died three years ago."

The room fell stone silent. Tifa's lip trembled. "Cloud, what are you saying? She's back with us now, she's in trouble and we-"

"No." He took a deep breath and had a broken expression. Tifa put a hand on his shoulder, trying to understand. "She's not Aeris, she never _was_. We've all been played, like _puppets_, getting her closer and closer to Sephiroth."

"Then, who is she?" she asked.

Cloud ran a gloved hand into the spikes of his hair. "She's Sephiroth's daughter."

Tifa brought her hand to her mouth in shock. Cloud stood up and leaned on the frame of the door. He gave Tifa back her cellphone and turned the corner.

"Keep searching," he called back to them. "No one disturbs me unless we have some _real_ news."

Tifa slumped back in the chair she was sitting in, feeling like her heart had been ripped out. She had truly believed that her best friend was back. Red sensed her pain, and climbed onto the chair next to her, laying his head on his paws and looking at her expectantly.

"Looking to have your ears scratched, Red?" she asked, trying to smile.

"Thought it may help. You're in pain. I have a sense about these things," Red said, purring a little and nudged her hand with his moist nose.

She managed a soft chuckle at his feline antics and brought up a hand to scratch behind his ears. His fur was rough, but it was nice to have a friend nearby to share her pain. "Thanks, Red. I do feel a little better."

"I do what I can," Red purred.

"We should get back to the bridge though," Tifa said. "We need to tell Cid what we know."

"Alright," Red said. He got down from the chair, then looked back at Tifa. "Coming?" he asked.

"I'll be there in a minute," she said.

He nodded. "If you ever need, my ears can always use a scratch," he said from the door, wagging his tail playfully.

Tifa smiled and nodded, then Red scampered up the stairs back to the bridge. She sat in the dark for a moment, then she decided to go to the cargo bay. There was room enough in the airship to keep a chocobo, but they'd long since retired the gold one that they raised together. She made a mental note to visit it at the farm again soon. Bits of hay still littered the corners of the Shera's hold from those days, but now it served the purpose of being Cid's mobile workshop, and he had let Tifa hang a punching bag in one corner.

She looked at the punching bag and centered herself. Her mind was a mix of emotions, and she needed to work out all the negative ones. She focussed on the 'Aeris' that she had been defending from the start, the stranger she let work at her bar and divulged her feelings for Cloud to. The 'Aeris' that she put herself in danger for time and again because she thought she was her best friend, come back from the dead. All of it was a ploy, a lie, just to have a psychotic little reunion with her homicidal maniac of a father.

"_LIAR!_" Tifa screamed, sending a deadly kick into the defenseless bean-filled bag.

* * *

I smiled as I adjusted the skewers of snake meat over the bonfire we had made at the mouth of the cave. It had been an eventful day. I learned a lot from him very quickly. He was a tough teacher, but probably the best one I had ever had. He understood what I meant when I talked about rhythm, and he was impressed of how skilled I was already with a sword, even with the incompetent teachers I had had before. I told him it was a natural talent I probably inherited from him.

It was a strange, yet, comforting relationship. He had this sensitive, never-before indulged paternal side that was showering me with affection, it was overwhelming at times. We had only been catching up over the last couple days, and already he had told me he was sorry he overlooked the possibility that I might exist, and he wanted to make it up to me.

"Father," I called. He was stretched out on his back looking at the roof of the cave, lost in thought.

"Yes, Seria?" Sephiroth said softly, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Dinner's ready," I said. I poked the skewers with a stick I had on hand, testing the springy texture of the meat.


	20. Sword of war

Sephiroth examined the blade of my favourite katana meticulously. "If you're ever going to benefit from your training," he said. "You'll need a better sword."

"Where will I get one, father?" I asked curiously.

He ran a finger down the hilt of the Masamune thoughtfully. "Wutai has some excellent craftsmen. We could go there next," he grinned. He eagerly started off in that direction, his mind toying with the thought of burning Wutai to the ground.

"Wait, father," I said. He turned to me and gave me a look of suspicion. "Cloud and his little friends are going to be looking for you, but no one really knows what _I_ look like. Let me go to Wutai. I don't want them finding you. You still need your strength back," I reasoned.

Sephiroth had come back from the dead, but he was still recovering. He hinted at it when we fought the giant snake last night, but his mind was a mess as he constantly berated himself for being so weak. He'd think things like, "I used to be faster," and "How is it that _Cloud_ could best me?" So our journey was him trying to regain his incredible strength, aswell as us trying to catch up on lost time, as a _family_.

Or, so it would seem.

He thought it over, and reluctantly agreed to let me go to Wutai unescorted. It was safer this way, as Yuffie might be in the city. We had been forced to duck into caves and avoid the plains because every now and again we'd see the Shera flying overhead, and my father stuck out like a sore thumb. They were making a serious effort to find us. In time, we would come out of hiding and destroy them, but not yet.

There was too much to do before then.

I made my way into Wutai, to the weapon shop. No one seemed to pay me any mind, without my Aeris 'costume' and with my long brown hair down I was just a regular girl dressed in black. I didn't see Yuffie anywhere either, though given her ninja training, even with my skills I probably wouldn't notice her until too late. I moved as quickly as I could through the bustling town without drawing too much attention to myself.

I came into the shop marked as the weapon's store and approached the counter. "Ah, welcome, welcome!" the shopkeeper said. "How can I help you?"

I drew my katana and placed it on the counter for him to see. Sephiroth was right, it wasn't the greatest sword. There were knicks in the blade along the length from sparring with him, and that was him going easy on me. It was getting corroded in places too.

"I need a new sword," I said. "What do you reccomend?"

"Interesting, interesting," he said, looking over my blade. "It's a decent blade, but very worn down." He ran his hand along the length of my sword, studying the marks made in it. "These were made by another sword," he noted aloud.

I narrowed my eyes. "So?" I asked in a warning tone. "Want to know who I've been fighting?"

"It is not my place to ask, it merely helps guide me to help you find a new sword." He pulled one off the wall behind him and handed it to me to try. "Here."

It was very light and a perfect balance, surprising for it's length. It had a slight curve towards the end of the blade, not as exagerrated as my old katana. I took a step back and gave it a swing. This sword was magnificent.

I smiled slightly. "I was right to come to Wutai," I complimented. "The craftsmanship is excellent. It feels like an extension of my arm."

He nodded proudly. "That sword is the Murasame. In the last three years since Meteorfall, before which we were bound by our conditions of surrender to Midgar, I've been improving on my work. I've improved the balance and tensile strength by using an alloy of our steel, and imported mithril. It is stronger than ever before, my best work."

"Fascinating," I remarked.

He smiled. "The blade should never dull, no matter who you're fighting."

I set the Murasame on the counter and reached into a pocket. "I'm sold. How much?"

"For you, only nine thousand gil," he said triumphantly.

_Geez, only?_ I mused sarchastically. It was a good thing Rufie had so much excess capital left to throw around. I easily afforded the sum in large bills, and was upset that the guy was giving me a discount on account of my looks. Mithril did not come cheap, apparently.

He took the bills and examined them, with curiosity in his mind. He was speculating on who or what I could be, travelling alone, buying the best sword in the shop, and carrying an _obscene_ amount of cash. But without a word further, he retrieved a wrapped wooden sheath to carry the sword and handed it to me.

"Thank you," I said, then went to leave the shop.

"Wait," he called behind me. "You forgot your old sword."

"Keep it," I said. "Melt it down, throw it away. I won't need it anymore." Then I left.

The streets were busier than before. I navigated my way across the wooden bridges to get out of the city the way I came in. Something bumped my leg mid stride. I looked down to see a ball.

"Hey, miss! Could you throw our ball back?" A small boy was a distance away in a field. I picked it up thoughtfully, and grinned.


	21. In the game

"You done redecoratin' my ship, Tifa?" Cid asked, surly from mental images of the damage the woman might have done.

Tifa stretched her arms above her head and smiled. "All done. I'm going to need a new bag, though."

"That all?" he pried, curious.

"Well..." Tifa thought, rotating her shoulders. "You might need a new workbench, too. And the walls..."

Cid ground his teeth a little. "Fine time to quit smokin'..." he muttered under his breath.

"Any news?" she asked.

Cid shook his head slowly, eyes fixed on the window infront of him. "While you were out, we picked up the rest o' them: Yuffie, Vincent, Barrett an' Reeve. We dropped Yuffie off in Wutai, she wanted to go home an' check on things."

The collective members of Avalanche had definitely seen better days. They'd spent two days straight searching for Sephiroth and Seria. Cid looked like he hadn't slept at all, and Tifa had curled up on the metal floor of the cargo bay after her fit yesterday. No one dared to bother Cloud. The tension they all felt was hanging thickly in the air. It even seemed to get to Red, who was curled up next to the window, gaze fixed on the ground racing below them.

"How is Vincent doing?" Tifa asked.

"Much better. You'd never think he just bounced back from th' brink o' death. Pissed as all hell though. Might wanna stay away from him for a bit."

"That so?" a dark voice said from behind Tifa.

Vincent and Cloud entered the deck just behind her. Cloud stalked wordlessly to the front of the ship to have a look for himself. Vincent took position by Cid.

"How are you feeling, Vincent?" Tifa asked cautiously.

Vincent said nothing, he sent her a look that sent cold prickles up her spine. He was at the center of all this, they had found out; If Seria betrayed anyone the most, it would be him. He had known from the beginning about Seria, and she had asked him for his trust.

Cloud's cellphone was picked up and brought to his ear before it finished the first ring. "Yuffie, what is it?" He was silent for a moment, looking suddenly energized. "I'll be there soon." He closed the phone. The assembled Avalanche team looked at him expectantly, but he didn't say anything. He started towards the rear of the deck to leave the ship.

Vincent put himself in Cloud's way. "Seria is in Wutai," he said simply, answering the question on everyone's mind.

"Out of my way, Vincent. This is my fight," Cloud spat out angrily.

"Not this time," Vincent said, a growl rumbling in his throat. He would not be denied.

* * *

Vincent left the ship in an old abandoned orchard on the outskirts of Wutai. He might have preferred for Cid to leave him a bit further away, if he had cared about stealth and if time wasn't an issue. He didn't know exactly what Yuffie told Cloud - he hadn't bothered to ask - but he knew that he was the only one to see Seria out of disguise, and the most likely to spot her from a distance. Besides, he _wanted_ her to know he was here. He deserved an explanation, and was confident that she didn't mean to kill him. She had saved his life after all.

A young boy and a girl had come to see the airship up close before it left. One of them came close and looked up at him in curious wonder.

"Tell me," Vincent said. "Have you seen a girl dressed in black?"

* * *

"Are you sure?" I asked sternly.

"Uh-huh," the small boy said, taking a stance between two small trees.

"Okay. Here it comes!" I shouted.

I gave the ball at my feet a hard kick. It flew over the boy's head at an impossible height, and the boy let out a brief "Whoa!" before taking off after it, laughing his head off.

I laughed as I watched him run after it. "I warned you, Kitai! I'm the _best!_" I flexed my muscles comicly and the children laughed.

"Be on my team, Seria!" one boy ran up to me. I smiled and ruffled his hair.

"No way! She's on my team!"

"Wanna bet?!"

A scuffle broke out between the children. Quickly I pulled one boy from the group who was pulling Nina's hair and making her scream. I held him firmly by the shoulders. "Whoa, whoa! There's no need for that, how about I play on your team for a bit, and then switch, okay?"

He didn't look happy about that and balled his fists, but finally he said "Okay," then stormed off to the goal.

"_Catch!_" Kitai yelled from somewhere nearby. He hurled the ball into the air and I ran a short way to catch it.

"Nice catch," a familiar voice said from behind me.

I spun on my heel and a metal clawed hand caught my wrist, holding me in place. I sighed, and rolled the ball back towards the children, who were watching the situation with a great deal of caution.

"Vincent," I said calmly. "Infront of the kids? Seriously?" I nodded to his clawed hand. Some of the kids were worried I was in trouble, and Kitai was ready to run home and tell his parents that Vincent was a monster attacking. Vincent had a soft spot for kids, though. He slowly let go of my hand.

"Thanks," I said, before knocking him to the ground and drawing my new sword. "Children, run home where it's safe! Nina, I want my materia back before you leave," I said, holding out my left hand expectantly, not taking my eyes off of Vincent.

Nina grudgingly returned to me my Master Magic and All materia before running off with the other kids. I held my stance and Vincent stayed on the ground until they were far enough that I couldn't hear them or their thoughts anymore.

"Okay," I said. I re-slotted the materia and sheathed my sword. "_Now_ we can talk."

I let Vincent get to his feet, but I didn't take my eyes off of him for a second. He was angry with me and felt betrayed. I thought as much. I was glad that he came instead of Cloud or Tifa. No one else in Avalanche would _want_ to talk.

He quickly drew his gun and pointed it steadily at my head. "Why?" Vincent asked. His thoughts told me the rest.

"It's all part of a plan," I told him, in my best megalomaniac tone of voice. I started to walk slowly around him, circling him like a vulture. "The Turks and their offer put me in an interesting position. I knew when I was thirteen that I was going to die; got into an accident, and the hospital had some sour test results to show me. My life's been pretty dark since then."

"I became a mercenary to make money, to eke out an existence. I didn't really ask why my parents were so vastly different from me and I didn't really care. Then along comes some idiot in a labcoat, telling me I owe it all to him and his _experiment_. Not even one he had wanted to remember; I was a _failed_ experiment that everyone forgot about well before Shinra collapsed. I didn't have any of this information... until recently. Now, I feel like I need to justify my existence, and now, I have the chance to."

"What do you mean by that?" Vincent asked warily. He hadn't lept to the same assumption as everyone else when the black materia went missing; he knows I have it.

"You know, you're a pretty good contender. I think I'll keep you in the game a bit longer," I grinned, then laughed maniacally. I gripped my sheathed sword and the green Master Magic materia glowed in response. Before Vincent could garner a response, the spell was already cast. "Break."

Vincent's reactive lunge was frozen in stone. I smiled devilishly at my handiwork "By the way," I said. "Make sure you thank Tifa for the Master Magi-ghk!" A cough caught me by complete surprise at the very end of my evil farewell. I turned away and covered my mouth with my hand, then made to escape before someone else from Avalanche would show up.


	22. Decay

The next person to visit Vincent's statue was Yuffie. She sighed upon seeing him frozen in such a rage. "Oh, Vince," she moaned, then dug inside a small pack for the materia to fix him up. "There it is! Esuna!"

Vincent was unbalanced when he came to, but managed to regain it very quickly. He looked off in the distance thoughtfully.

"What happened, Vince?" Yuffie asked curiously.

"I met Seria," he said.

"No kidding," Yuffie patronized. "So, how'd it go?"

"She doesn't want me dead," he declared with certainty. "Seria has had several opportunities to kill me and she never has. I think she wants us to find them."

"Really? Why? She's one of the bad guys, right?"

"That's what she wants us to think, for now."

"Where do we start looking?"

Vincent thought for a moment. He didn't remember it very well, but he was trying to recall the dream he had in the tank back at WRO Headquarters. He remembered seeing her from behind on a sunny mesa.

"Cosmo Canyon. I think they're heading there soon. We should try and cut them off this time."

* * *

_That was bad._

I managed to find a small stream to rinse the blood off my hands. Quickly I tried rubbing it off my face, too. That was really, really bad, I can't believe I did that infront of Vincent. Hopefully he didn't notice while he was frozen as a statue.

I knew when I was thirteen that I was going to die. We originally lived in Midgar, and once while I was riding the train with my adoptive mother, it derailed and fell into the slum below. Over a hundred died, I was the only survivor. However, the doctors who examined me discovered I had some unique blood disease that was slowly killing me. The estimated that I would die after age twenty. Failed experiment indeed.

I'm nineteen, and I'm already coughing up blood like it's going out of style.

I tried cupping some of the water in my hands to rinse out my mouth, and promptly spit it back out again. The water looked clean, but it tasted terrible. I did it a couple more times anyway. I didn't want Sephiroth to see me like this. The stream was moving quickly, and I couldn't catch a good reflection out of it, I just had to hope that was enough to get the blood out of my teeth.

I would've washed up more, but I had to keep moving. I staggered my tracks as much as I could, hurrying back to camp. I was already late to get back, I spent too long playing with the kids. I wonder what they're going to tell their parents about what they saw? No sense worrying about it now, I guess.

I got back to camp to find Sephiroth cooking dinner. He looked up and noticed my somewhat frantic pace.

"Something wrong, daughter?" he asked.

"Had a little run-in with Avalanche. Nothing I couldn't handle," I said, smirking, quickly regaining my composure. I took the sword from it's sheathe and held it out for him. "Check it out, new sword."

He took it from me and gave it a swing, a delighted grin instantly tugging at the corner of his lips. "Excellent choice. They've improved on their workmanship." He examined the blade's edge. "There's no blood on your sword. In fact it hardly looks used," he remarked.

It didn't take me long to figure out what he was getting at. I raised a hand to casually run it along my face, and hopefully pick up any traces of blood left, but he caught my wrist quickly, and held it.

"Seria. Why is there blood on your face?"

I tried to think of some pathetic excuse I could deliver, but it was pointless to even speak at this point. He already knew.

He let go of my wrist and held my face. "It's happened a couple times recently, hasn't it? You've been hiding it from me."

I nodded. "I don't have any pain though, I'm still fine," I protested. "What about your strength?"

"No. We've waited too long. We need to get started," Sephiroth said softly. He held me and stroked my hair. "Once we get rid of Avalanche, we'll crush Planet and ascend to Godhood. I can't think of a better gift for my daughter."


	23. Sacrifice

The sun was setting when we got to Cosmo Canyon. This spot was ideal because, besides the remains of Mideel which was inconvenient to get to with our limited travel options, it had Lifestream close enough to the surface to have an intricate cave system underground that could reach it. I suppose there could've been better places, but I gave Sephiroth a limited list of options. I nudged him about maybe dropping a Meteor on Midgar again, but he snubbed it, said it was like kicking a dead chocobo. It just wasn't _fun_. Besides, no one would expect Meteor to fall way out here.

I had gone into town and purchased some climbing gear, and we were ascending a sheer stone mountain a good deal away from there. We needed a good vantage point, but we also needed to be far enough away that the shockwave from the impact wouldn't kill us. That would be pretty counter-productive. We reached the top, and I reached down to lend an arm to Sephiroth for the last few inches. He would _never_ dare admit it, but he looked a little winded. _He's still not a hundred percent yet._

Sephiroth started unhooking his harness and handed me the Black Materia. "Start summoning," he directed.

I took it, feeling the weight of it in my hand. _Is he really going to trust me with this?_ I hesitated considering the weight of the responsibility.

"Will you be able to handle it?" Sephiroth asked, noting my delay.

I closed a fist around the materia and grinned wickedly. "I'll summon Meteor. You even the score with Cloud," I said.

Sephiroth grinned, and drew his sword, waiting. I took the Black Materia to the far side of the mesa and sat down on my legs, concentrating on the summoning. It was made more difficult with the sound of the airship in the distance.

* * *

"There they are!" Yuffie yelped in excitement.

"Cid, can you get us close enough?" Cloud turned to ask the airship pilot, hand eagerly on his sword as they drew closer to Sephiroth.

"Boy, are you questionin' my abilities?" Cid spat.

"Nevermind."

"Seria's already started," Vincent pointed out.

"_What?!_ Okay, to the cargo bay! As soon as we're close enough we need to jump, we don't have time to land!" Tifa shouted. "Come on everyone, move!" The assembled members of Avalanche ran for the door to the rear of the ship.

"Reeve, take the wheel!" Cid barked.

"What? But-" Reeve grabbed the wheel haphazardly.

"You better take _damn_ good care of 'er!" Cid grabbed his polearm and made off with the others.

* * *

I heard them land on the mesa. It was time. I turned my head just enough to quickly check my peripheral vision. Sephiroth's back was to me, and it looked like all eight members of Avalanche had arrived, Reeve's Cait Sith doll included.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud bellowed.

"Nice of you to join me, Cloud," Sephiroth drawled.

I stood slowly and drew my sword, making my way quietly towards the group. A couple of them noticed, but did nothing to stop me. There was an even bigger threat between me and them that everyone's attention was on.

"You're too late," Sephiroth continued. "Seria's already started summoning Meteor."

"It don't make sense though, I don't understand it!" Barret protested, arms crossed with an expression of pure frustration on his face.

"Barret?" Tifa asked curiously.

"I mean, why out here? No big cities to destroy, no Mako reactors, no nuthin'! Just these big pillars o' rock and dirt. Why drop a Meteor out here?"

A couple faces lit up. I came up behind Sephiroth now.

"Yes, why drop a Meteor way out here?" I mimicked the question. "An area of the world no one visits, no one cares about... It'd be kind of a waste, right?"

Sephiroth was puzzled. His mind was in alarm and anger and he went to turn slightly and confront me. The moment he moved though, I put the Murasame through his left shoulder and brought the point down to the ground and held him there. The collected minds of Avalanche reeled at the doublecross.

"Seria!?" Sephiroth strangled. He was still too strong, this wouldn't last.

"I'll keep it short, 'Father'. I know what you've been thinking this whole time. Guess I forgot that little detail when I joined your idiotic crusade, hmm? _I can read your mind_, and I know what you've been planning _the whole time_. Meteor needs a sacrifice, just like Holy. You were going to let _me_ take the fall."

"You're not summoning Meteor?" Tifa asked from the group.

"Oh yes, but not in the way you expect. What if you used it in reverse? What if you took one of these big rocks out here, and sent it from the Planet out into space?"

"Why would you do something like that?" Yuffie was puzzled.

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea why."

Sephiroth thought I had let my guard down, so he tore away from me and drew his sword. I matched his pace and had my blade crossed with his. The wound in his shoulder was slowing him down.

I knew I needed every advantage I could carve out of the situation, and had been working on it all along. I had him train me so I would learn how he fought. I went and fetched a better weapon to combat his Masamune. And now I had him injured and at less than full strength. I know myself well enough to know that nobody has ever beaten me, or even come _close_, but Sephiroth was legendary. I had to prepare myself and catalogue his weaknesses in order to challenge his strength.

I stared into those cold, lifeless eyes, and smiled.

"I'm going to _kill_ you, 'Father', and shoot you into space so you'll never bother this Planet again. No more coming back from the dead for _you_."


	24. Anger and fear

Sephiroth's anger flared. Had I not been prepared for it, I might've died in that first crucial moment. That was okay, though. I was dying anyway. _The life I've lived has made me the perfect martyr,_ I thought in disgust.

I rolled to my feet in a crouch just as his sword violently pierced the rock of the red mesa. Even wounded and weak, he was still _fast_.

"Haste," I breathed, then made with a lunge of my own. _No holding back._

I launched a flurry of strikes at him almost faster than he could track. Almost. He deflected each one, but he was starting to falter. I made a cheap slash across his right knee, an observed weak spot in our training. He was a man about it, he didn't let his pain show, but the expression on his face when he realized I had him backed up to the edge of the mesa was worth _everything_.

Unfortunately, that just made him more determined.

He slashed quickly with his sword in his left and tried to hit me with a sharp right hook, but I deflected the sword with my own and blocked his fist, turning my wrist and holding his. He broke my grip quickly, but he did manage to gain back some ground.

Then he pulled a move I hadn't seen when we trained together. I guess I wasn't the only one holding back. It earned me a slash across the stomach followed with a swift kick to the fresh wound. I hit the ground, stunned. Another brush with death.

"No!" Cloud shouted. It snapped me back to reality.

The Masamune came down into the ground next to my face, earning me a large gash in my cheek, but a moment later I heard metal on metal. Cloud was fighting for _me_.

_Well, we can't have __**that**__._

I leapt to my feet and kicked Cloud out of the way. "Stop!" I screamed, freezing the 'Hero' in place. My sword was locked with Sephiroth's a millisecond later. "Still my turn!" I snarled.

* * *

"She's not going to win this fight!" Yuffie screamed desperately, looking to her friends for guidance, their leader frozen in time just metres away. "What are we doing just standing here!"

Cid stood with his arms crossed, watching the battle with a mixed expression. "I say we let 'em hash out their problems, then take out the winner."

Barrett let out a chuckle and clapped Cid heavily on the shoulder. "I couldn' agree more!"

"You guys are the worst! The _**worst!**_ Our greatest enemy is right there! She's fighting him for the _whole world!_"

"Vincent," Tifa said softly.

Vincent turned to look at her. She was very solemn, her gaze looking straight down at the ground. She crossed her arms and her face held the gravest of expressions.

"She has my Master Magic Materia. Why doesn't she heal herself?" Tifa asked.

"Because," Vincent rasped. "She expects to die."

The battle drew close to them and a quick slash from Sephiroth opened a wound in Seria's left arm. Blood sprayed the ground infront of Tifa, and she let out a panicked gasp.

"We," Tifa started, her voice shaking. She remembered talking with 'Aeris' in the kitchen on Denzel's birthday only six days ago. She remembered divulging her greatest secrets to her, talking about things she had forbidden herself to even think about, all that time spent reminiscing a past that this other woman didn't even share. She remembered the rage she felt when she discovered it was all a _lie_. "We have to help her."

"We'll be here, when she's ready for us to help her," Vincent said.

* * *

Yeah, fighting the biggest threat to the Planet all by myself? Really, not the greatest _nor_ the brightest idea I'd ever had. I was bleeding badly, all over the place, but I felt numb and determined. I still had one last trick up my sleeve.

"You're not bad," I commented, grinning broadly once our blades locked again. "... For a _puppet_."

"_What?_" he howled, and his assault intensified. Guess I made him angry. _Good_.

"_Please_, as if you hadn't thought of it yourself. You're not even just a puppet, you're the _original_. They liked pulling your strings so much, they made copies!" I antagonized him further. His face was the most ferocious I'd ever seen it.

But his skill in combat was dropping like a stone. He took a strike at me a beat too late, and I managed to put my sword right through him. His pure anger and adrenaline had him pull away and he remained on his feet, though he staggered back a step.

I knew it. He was too precise, too dextrous, too methodical in combat. Like a well-oiled machine. He had never been in a fight while angry.

"I am not some filthy _**puppet!**_" he snarled fiercely.

"Oh, _please_. How long was I pulling your strings? For how long did your 'Mother,' the Calamity, do the same? You may have been some famous Soldier at one time, but Soldiers take orders, don't they? They're easy to command, to _manipulate_."

His finesse was almost gone. He lunged at me like some crazed animal. I had fought crazed animals plenty of times however, and I managed a slash with the Murasame across his chest and kicked him off in one move. He went sprawling across the flat rock face and right off the edge of the mesa. I saw gloved fingers of one hand hanging on when I got to my feet.

I strolled over to the edge of the cliff, and couldn't resist toying with him some more. I crouched down and looked down on him. "I'm even toying with you now," I declared simply. "Hmm. That's not where I want you to die."

I straightened to my feet, and he buried the Masamune into the rock face, attempting to get a better grip.

"Tornado." At my command, the windless canyon was suddenly home to a violent cyclone that picked him up and hurled him into the sky. I crouched and leapt from the rock face, managing a decent altitude myself. Once I was level with him in the open air, another spell was cast. "Flare."

His chest exploded and he was sent hurtling back towards a similar plateau nearly two hundred metres away. I took a couple long strides in from the edge, then turned and lined myself up. "Haste!" I shouted, rocketing across the mesa and leaping off the edge. I sank the blade of the Murasame into the rock of the far pillar, I had landed about a metre shy. Still under the effects of Haste, I swiftly pulled myself up, leaving my sword where it was.

Sephiroth was broken but not quite yet defeated. I managed to evade several swings but I eventually got in close enough to disarm him and knock him back. I floored him, and impaled him on his own sword. He howled in pain, but was still alive. Making sure he couldn't get himself out easily, I ran back to the side of the mesa. I dropped down and held on to my sword. It moved under my weight, but remained imbedded in the rock. I held my hand to the side of the mesa from where I hung.

"Quake."

The column of red stone split horizontally. I climbed onto the shaking rock a beat before the shattering earth led to my Murasame falling free to the canyon floor. Sephiroth, disheveled and almost beaten, managed to pull his sword from his chest and was on approach. I pulled myself to my feet. Now for the finishing touch.

I ran at him. He took one final swing. If it had landed it would've cleaved me in half. Instead I got out of the way and robbed him of his vaunted blade. I slashed at his knees and landed a firm kick into his lower back. He hit the ground and I wasted no time pinning him again with his own sword. Then I walked out infront of his eyes, his cold lifeless eyes, so he could watch me.

I brought the Black Materia into view. "**Meteor**."

I think that was the first time he felt fear.


	25. Anna

The rock underneath us split from the column and started it's ascent into space. I held his gaze grimly for several seconds. Then I ran off the edge of the newly created Meteor and leapt for the plateau where Avalanche was still waiting. I figured the fall would kill me, or I would miss it by degrees and hit the canyon floor. It didn't really matter though. My injuries were too severe, and even if I recovered from those, I was already dying. I just figured it'd be faster than suffocation in space.

I looked down. Seemed like I was going to miss.

At the last second, a hand shot out and swung me onto the plateau. I rolled, and heard a couple things snap underneath me, but they seemed distant and unimportant. Who had saved me? _Why did they even bother?_

The sky was a deep red, on the verge of turning purple before nightfall. A face came into my view. Brown eyes, framed by long black hair. _Tifa?_

"Thought you would hate me," I remarked softly.

"You just saved the world. Now and forever," she said.

I looked away and rolled my eyes. "By the Ancients, don't try to make it sound noble," I scoffed. "I did it for my own selfish, _deranged_ reasons. Screw the Planet. I always had my own agenda." I licked my lips absently. They seemed dry, and all I could taste was my own blood, but it seemed distantly important. "Oh, sorry by the way. Your Materia is still in my sword."

"We'll get it later. Right now we should patch you up."

"Don't waste your time. I'm in a strong state of shock, but I'm pretty sure I've shattered several bones and have massive internal bleeding. I doubt even Full Cure could stitch that up. I'm done."

"Don't talk like that!" Yuffie appeared. I hadn't even noticed the rest of them had crowded around me. Even Cloud. Red started licking the side of my face. Judging by the texture of his tongue, I'd say the verdict is cat.

"Yuffie," I said. "I was a defective experiment, I have an expiry date and it's soon. I was always going to die. "

**Maybe you don't have to.**

I closed my eyes and sighed. "You've got to be kidding..." I mumbled.

"What?" I heard Cloud ask, but I felt the wind pick up. I'm sure everyone else did. Then the weird thing was, in the recesses of my thoughts, I could feel the wind itself circling the stone pillar, rushing upwards around it, like it was alive. And I could _feel_ it. Like a thousand gentle voices singing in the very back of my mind.

I was more than ready to let go. I sucked in a breath, and let it out slowly, certain that it was my last. But despite it all, I felt that living wind pour into me.

**That's enough Seria, you can stand up now.**

"Do I have to?" I moaned. It was kinda nice being stretched out staring up at the sky, just waiting for the end. Romantic. The tiny voice laughed. I sat up and saw everyone staring slack-jawed at the ghost of the _real_ Aeris Gainsborough.

"Aeris," Cloud said reverently. He didn't take his eyes away from her, but I was sure he was speaking to me next. "She looks like she's talking, but why can't I hear her?"

"Seriously? I'm still the only one?" I grumbled. "You have to be part Ancient to hear what she's saying," I clarified as I got to my feet. I ran my hands over my arms and my stomach, then my cheek. No wounds. Nothing hurt, and I seemed whole, so I could gather what had happened; either Aeris or the souls of the Ancients together had summoned the Lifestream to heal all my wounds. "What's the point of healing me, Aeris? I just said, I come with an expiry date."

**Not anymore.**

I stared at her smiling expression in bewilderment. "What?"

**The Lifestream did more than mend your broken bones. You saved the world, you get another chance at life. You get to see old age, Seria.**

"_What!_" I screamed angrily. I scooped up some dirt from my feet and threw it at her. "Are you _mental?_ How is that even remotely what I would want! I don't want a _reward!_ I want to die!"

**Hey, at least you get a second chance! That's more than I ever got!**

"_Screw_ that! You of all people should understand what it's like, living your life knowing when and how you're going to die!" I ran through her apparition to the edge of the cliff, turning back towards her as I stood on the very edge. "If I threw myself off here right now, what would the Ancients have to say about _that_, huh?"

**Look, with me and my mother gone, that makes you the last surviving Ancient on the Planet. The Planet needs someone to defend it, and there's no one else, Seria.**

"I'm the last Ancient, and I'm barely even a _real person_. I'm the product of a petri dish! What if I said no?"

**You wouldn't.**

"_Try me_," I hissed. "Maybe the rest of you were all puppets in this deranged fantasy story, but I lived outside of all that. Shinra _forgot_ about me, I've always lived my own life _my_ way."

**You wouldn't, because you know what Anna would say.**

I wanted to scream at her some more. If she were corporeal I would want to claw her eyes out until my fingers bled. I wanted to hurt her for saying the one thing that could possibly hurt me. My dead mother's name.

Instead, I fell to the ground sobbing like a traumatized thirteen year-old girl.


	26. Game over

"Thanks for landing at the bottom of the canyon so I could get my sword back," I mumbled thoughtfully. The blade was as sharp as ever, besides Sephiroth's blood still splattered all over it there was no sign it had even seen battle. I was gently trying to clear it off with the sand that had accumulated with it. The thumping of the airships engines were a lot quieter than expected. I guess I just didn't notice it before.

"It's no problem. Where should we drop you off, Seria?" Tifa asked me gently. She sat next to me in the small dorm room at the back of the ship. We were alone, strangely enough. I expect Vincent to be pointing a gun at my head after all I had done. _Tifa's a pretty competent fighter_, I mused. _If I _were_ a threat she might stand a small chance._

"Junon might be best. Oh," I said. I popped the Master Magic Materia out of the hilt of the Murasame. "This is yours."

"You should almost keep it, you use it pretty well," Tifa said, smiling.

I gave her a quizzical glance. "What, are we _friends_ now?" I asked sarchasticly. "I pretended to be your dead best friend. I ran away from everything and stabbed everyone in the back for my own purposes. I _don't_ see how that makes us BFF's."

"I guess not," Tifa said distantly. "It was all lies, wasn't it?"

"Just the act. Not my words. That was all me."

Tifa gave me a questioning look. "Which words?"

I gave her a sharp nudge in the arm with my elbow. "Go tell Cloud how you feel. Seriously."

Tifa's face turned red and her brown eyes darted away. "I forgot I told you that... Do you think it would work out, him and me?"

"Honestly, you should march up to him and kiss him straight away. Boys are _idiots_, half the time they can't see what's right infront of them, and the other half when they do, they misinterpret it completely. He's never going to make a move; You have to either do it yourself or both of you will die alone."

Tifa was silent for a moment, thinking about my words with a muddled expression. She turned to me and smiled shyly. "You're very blunt, you know."

"Saves a lot of time. Also I'm kind of counting on it; I think Cloud's still after me with the whole Aeris resemblence _thing_."

Tifa's mind went to what happened on the mesa, and I audibly sighed. "Who is Anna?"

"_Was_ Anna. She's dead and gone." Tifa's mind was apoligetic, but the question was not dismissed. "She was my mother. She died years ago when I was thirteen. Yes, Aeris is my mother biologically speaking, but Anna was the one who raised me since before I can remember."

"I'm sorry."

_You should be,_ I thought reflexively, a wave of anger running through me.

* * *

"There she is! How are you feeling?" Yuffie asked with far too much energy as I entered the bridge with Tifa.

"Shaken. Angry. Miserable. Pretty much normal for me," I said in a sarchastic monotone.

Cloud stepped forward from the large window at the front of the ship. All the eyes of Avalanche were on me from various parts of the bridge. "Seria, I wanted to ask you something."

"I can already tell what it is. No." I hate having to remind people I can read minds.

"But-"

"I'm not becoming a member of Avalanche. I go my own way. Now if you don't mind, I have four things to say," I began. "First off, we're _not_ friends. I don't care what happened today, frankly I'd think you'd be pissed because I just rendered your group and your purpose completely pointless. Sephiroth is _never_ coming back. Second, the Black Materia stays with me."

"_What!_" Barrett voiced for everyone in the room. "What kinda fools do you take us for? Ain't _no damn way _we're leavin' _that _with _you!_"

"How do we know you won't use it?" Vincent asked cooly.

"Easy: I won't use it. Besides, I'll be a lot harder to find if anyone wants to try to use it again, and, in case you weren't keeping score, it looks like your group has lost it to Sephiroth three times now. I'm never in one place for long and it'll be a lot safer with me."

"I'm not comfortable with that," Cloud said seriously.

"I don't _care_. Third," I started, then I ran to the wheel unsheathing my sword and had the point of it at Cid's throat before anybody could move. "You're going to open the cargo bay hatch. Now."

Cid raised an eyebrow, unperturbed. "An' why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, I'll carve a large hole in the side of your precious airship instead," I grinned.

Cid's eyebrows gathered in mild frustration, then let out a chuckle. "Guess'n I can't argue with that."

He flicked the switch and in the distance I could hear it opening. I grinned wickedly and ran for the back, the alerted members of Avalanche hot on my tail.

"She's not going to jump... Is she?" Reeve asked as they ran.

"Seria! What are you doing? We're over the ocean!" Tifa shouted, frantic.

I got to the open hatch and turned to face them, my sword in my right hand. "And the fourth and last thing I need to say: Yuffie," I addressed, pulling a red Summon Materia from the pocket of my trechcoat and holding it up for her to see. "You need to keep a better eye on your Materia."

I took a step backwards and fell out of the ship, laughing hysterically.

* * *

"Vincent," Tifa began. "Do you think we'll ever see her again?"

"Maybe."

Tifa looked forlornly out the open hatch at Bahamut Zero's form dissapearing on the horizon, carrying Seria with it. "Do you think we can trust her, if we do?"

Vincent chuckled. "Probably?"

Reeve let out a good natured laugh in the contemplative silence. Tifa looked at him, puzzled. "What's on your mind?"

"I was just thinking, we should call Seria any time we need someone to stir things up! This is quite possibly the end to the most interesting week in my life," Reeve said, smiling.


End file.
